Just got back from my 11 day stay. We had a blast but feel extorted by Mickey Mouse.

[kong1802]

I look at it like this, you know the tickets to get in are going to be expensive, the hotels too. But I really wish they would stop raising the food prices so darn much. Yes you can expect increases but when most sit downs are starting to average $30 plus entrees and the drinks are just as pricey it can add up the vacation goes on.

We had lunch in the Mexico pavilion last week. San Angel Inn. I was shocked at the price changes. I haven’t looked up historical prices, but I don’t remember the average being $30 per entree...for lunch. And Lacava margaritas going for $16 a piece?! This is why we mostly avoid table service now. It’s a shame, but there’s no place on this Earth where Mexican food is worth that....

 

[Club Cooloholic]

We had lunch in the Mexico pavilion last week. San Angel Inn. I was shocked at the price changes. I haven’t looked up historical prices, but I don’t remember the average being $30 per entree...for lunch. And Lacava margaritas going for $16 a piece?! This is why we mostly avoid table service now. It’s a shame, but there’s no place on this Earth where Mexican food is worth that....

It won't stop anytime soon either. They want people to buy the DDP, and if the DDP goes up in price they need to justify it by expanding the savings you will see paying out of pocket, so they increase the prices on snacks, entrees, a horrible cycle. The DDP was the worst thing to happen to the WDW tourist.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think they are driving up the meal prices in a attempt to move more folks to the dining plan. When we buy the dining plan, Disney gets there money in advance and can serve whatever quality food they wish as they already have our money.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I think they are driving up the meal prices in a attempt to move more folks to the dining plan. When we buy the dining plan, Disney gets there money in advance and can serve whatever quality food they wish as they already have our money.

Exactly, and I think in the parks, you see such a "sameness" to the menu, like one giant central kitchen is pumping out to 4 restaurants at a time. The ubiquitous New York Strip steak that is on every menu to appease the guy who wants to feel he is getting the best value from his DDP even if the steak is no better than what he would get at a Longhorns.

 

[MinnieWaffles]

They kinda have this already, it's called DVC..it's just pricey. The markets though are surprisingly not horrible, beer is a fortune but they have some decent prices on wine and frozen stuff like pizzas.

In February we found that rather then spending $5 on one ice cream in the parks, we would rather buy a tub of it from the resort shop for not much more money and it served 2 very easily. There's actually some decent values in the resort convenience shops compared to in a theme park.

 

[Prince-1]

Exactly, and I think in the parks, you see such a "sameness" to the menu, like one giant central kitchen is pumping out to 4 restaurants at a time. The ubiquitous New York Strip steak that is on every menu to appease the guy who wants to feel he is getting the best value from his DDP even if the steak is no better than what he would get at a Longhorns.

The steak at Longhorns is better.

 

[SpaceCoast]

My only complaint on the water is I don't think you can find water from a fountain that tastes as nasty as the stuff in WDW. It is almost as if they add disgusting flavoring to the water just to push you to buy the bottled stuff.... And I've traveled all over the country and have never tasted water that is consistently as bad as Disney fountain water.

I live in Central Florida and tap water is undrinkable. It's normal here.

 

[carnini]

Adding to an already growing thread....
$3.50 a bottle for water says a lot about where this is heading, the now $16 beer at Via Napoli which I now pass on.
I use to be able to go every other year (we are lucky and saved) but prices sure have gone up a lot more then inflation.
Our last trip in April will be our last except for our bucket list trips (mickey not so scary) for a while.

 

[carnini]

I live in Central Florida and tap water is undrinkable. It's normal here.

I did see a they added a water bottle refilling station (should have filter on it if like ones in schools) hoping this rolls out all over but doubt it given the $3.50 water. We went with Amazon now and had them deliver to the hotel a bunch gallon jugs then filled a camelbak pre park. Worked out ok.

 

[etherius1960]

Years ago, I went to a training session Disney sponsored for running a school or business the Disney Way. The cost of the parks was brought up and, whether or not the representative spoke officially on behalf of Disney, what they had to say made sense. The cost was one of the factors in regulating crowd quality. In other words, in order to exclude “riff-raff” only those who could afford to pay would be in the park. Lower income crowds (think six flags and no offense intended) would be hesitant to pay those prices unless they’d worked hard to raise money, or were gifted admission. In those instances, lower income crowds would value the experience so much that they’d “fit in” with everyone. Bottom line. The money isn’t necessarily something Disney needs... but it does reflect a bias towards wealthier customers. And it does nothing to prevent the “riff-raff” rudeness of some cultures who can afford such

 

[Disstevefan1]

It makes you think if there is a breaking point for prices for everything at WDW and there would be a point where they can level off and maybe at least keep the prices the same for a couple of years?

Nevermind..... Never gonna happen

 

[21stamps]

I did see a they added a water bottle refilling station (should have filter on it if like ones in schools) hoping this rolls out all over but doubt it given the $3.50 water. We went with Amazon now and had them deliver to the hotel a bunch gallon jugs then filled a camelbak pre park. Worked out ok.

I don’t understand the complaints about drink prices, even most food prices. They’re lower than most other venues, and Disney allows guests to bring in food and drinks.

 

[Map7711]

You can still go to Disney within reason. Say you live in the NY metro area. Just looked up flights in September. JetBlue has round trip for $150 each! Family of four that’s $600. Then I checked Disney good neighbor hotels with free shuttle back and forth to theme parks. They can be had for around $100 night. Sometimes less. So if you stay for 7 nights, that’s $700. Theme park tickets for 5 days no park hopper is around $400 each. That’s $1200. So all in all your around $2500 in. Then you can get very creative. Have breakfast at hotel, a lot have free breakfast. Then bring lunch and water w you. So you are only buying dinner. It’s all about how much you are willing to “give up”. But you can do it.

 

[Tim Lohr]

It's really beginning to seem like a rip off, even the most basic things like drinks... It costs $4 to buy a 20 ounce Coke at Disney now, most of which is ice, but you can find sales at grocery stores or an everyday price at whole sale clubs that'll sell 2 liter bottles of Coke for $1. So that's 270 ounces of Coke at a Grocery Store for $4 vs. 20 ounces of Coke at Disney for $4 ...why is Coke 13 times more expensive a Disney Park than a at grocery store? Because they can charge that much. What's your other option? drink Florida tap water?

 

[Kingoglow]

You are comparing sales prices and whole sale prices to everyday prices at a resort.
Not really a good comparison. Try non-discounted grocery store pricing or everyday prices at a gas station instead. Disney will still be more expensive, but you are skewing the data.

 

[Jedi Stitch]

Still paying off the 2016 trip.

 

[Map7711]

Also what are we comparing a Disney trip to? Are we comparing it to say a Hawaii vacation or a cruise to Europe? Or are we comparing it to a week down the Jersey Shore?

 

[Disneydad101]

Just got back from a 9 night stay at a Value with a dining plan. We flew from Indiana, I just tallied all my expenses from gas to get to the airport, all snacks from the time we left the house until I pulled in the drive. We had 9 day park hopper tickets as well. A family of 4. $5208 was our total. The biggest difference I have seen in the last 5 or so years is resort prices and ticket prices. I don't get the people buying bottled water, Disney drinking fountain water isn't great, but the water from fountain soda machines is OK, maybe I am not a water snob, but if I am hot and thirsty, all Disney water is fine.

 

[21stamps]

It's really beginning to seem like a rip off, even the most basic things like drinks... It costs $4 to buy a 20 ounce Coke at Disney now, most of which is ice, but you can find sales at grocery stores or an everyday price at whole sale clubs that'll sell 2 liter bottles of Coke for $1. So that's 270 ounces of Coke at a Grocery Store for $4 vs. 20 ounces of Coke at Disney for $4 ...why is Coke 13 times more expensive a Disney Park than a at grocery store? Because they can charge that much. What's your other option? drink Florida tap water?

If you compare food and drinks to grocery store prices, then you’ll always think it’s too expensive.
If you compare food and drink prices to any other entertainment venue, then you’ll see that Disney on par or less than most.
Also, I don’t know why so many people don’t bring their own water into the park. It’s a great perk that Disney allows it.


The monorail resorts are the only area where I think prices are getting crazy. Specifically the theme park view rooms. I understand the demand is high, but I’m even having trouble justifying it these days.

 

[Bpmorley]

After all that has happened in the past 2 years, it is the first time (never thought I would say this) that I have reached my tipping point. I used to get annual passes at WDW for my family of 8 and go a couple of times a year. Now I am going to be scaling back to once every 2-3 years, and no way will I stay on property with 8 people. There are just too many straws breaking the camels back.
1. The change to POTC
2. Smoking ban
3. criminal water prices in a sweltering humid swamp.
4. nickel and dime strategy getting ramped up beyond belief.
5. Shoehorning IP into everything
6. rampant political correctness
7. The curb-stomping of Luke, Han and of Star Wars in general.

Overall, the product is getting worse while the cost goes up. Nice job Disney.

We definitley don't do disney like we used to. We would save our DVC pts for every other year and maybe go 5 - 10 times a year. maybe 2 week long stays then a bunch of long weekends. Airline prices also helped slow that down. used to get $29 rt philly to MCO, no more. We started getting a rental car and spending less time in the parks. Started eating off property more. Now I couldn't tell you the last time we bought park tickets. We stay for a night or 2 either on the way or coming back from somewhere else. Shame on disney for all this.