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Recent promos suggest Disney restaurants are in trouble - why?
- Thread starter ptaylor
- Start date
Joeamc
Active Member
freesvoice
Active Member
This explains today's announcement to leave Netflix.
Biff215
Well-Known Member
I don't think the sky is falling. It's an extra 10% at a handful of places that are mostly on the pricey side and where the dining plan requires two credits. DS may have an effect, but I don't think that's the main factor here. As others have stated, resort restaurants aren't very convenient to get to, especially without a car. Why leave the park if you're going to lose hours of ride time? We enjoy the resort restaurants, but I think we're in the minority. Plenty of guests (especially offsite) are largely unaware they even exist, and when they see the prices, they may head right back to a counter service option. Even 30% isn't enough to justify changing my plans, but don't worry, Disney is still making money!
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
Im sorry but Disney springs is terrible
andysol
Well-Known Member
I disagree- and I really hate shopping. I visited it in July as skeptical as ever after avoiding it for the past year- and to my astonishment- I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's clean, it's beautiful and the food is pretty damned good. Boathouse is tied with Shulas for the best steak on property, paddlefish is great, morimotos, Blaze, the list goes on.
Is it more expensive now? Yup. But I spent 4-5 hours there and only spent money on lunch and a coke up on the rooftop bar at the coca-cola building- which was also great.
Everything they've added is top notch- and if they end up revamping the remaining stragglers on the west side and marketplace like they've done for the landing- it'll only get better.
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
That is your opinion.
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
It's a balanced and well thought out one.
I think its a combo of several things...The mall concept is declining. Everywhere. People are ordering online and not going to the stores...If you see non specific items at Disney, you now think you can price check it online and order it there- and don't have to carry it back in your suitcase. Couple that with the price of meals and the economy. My family is upper middle class and we cannot afford to spend $400 on a meal for 7 people to eat dinner everyday at WDW. Non signature restaurants, no desserts, no appetizers no alcohol... It's simply crazy. And I love Disney as much as all of you, but there comes a point when you ask yourself how much this makes sense....and it's starting to not....
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
Cant disagree with that.
mapleleaf1389
Member
It's also kind of like a senior discount, when my wife and I tried to use it 2 weeks ago, the prime dining window between 6:30 and 8:30 could not be discounted. I think they may just be trying to drive some traffic into those places (Turf Club and Olivia's are seldom very busy, the resorts by design don't really need a full service restaurant). I love Artist Point but also seldom see it crowded by any standard, not just recently either. The only place on the list that surprised me a little is the GF cafe, as that has always generally been a little more crowded when we have gone.
Kman101
Well-Known Member
But of course many take it as the sky is falling because for some reason they want to see a place they seem to care about fail. Everything is a conspiracy theory. I think they've had a lower than average summer and they may be panicking a bit. It's not the end of the world. People act like restaurants have no one in them and they're days away from hanging up closed signs. That's not the case.
In terms of resort restaurants it's likely a combination of factors. Better options at Disney Springs. Lackluster service at said hotel restaurants. Lower than average attendance for summer. The difficulty of getting to said restaurants in the resorts isn't worth the effort. Higher prices and lesser quality food. It's likely a slew of factors.
Kman101
Well-Known Member
What's terrible about it? (I'm genuinely curious on your thoughts)
The 30% is going to work for me. I often stay at the Swolphin, and often wanted to go to Flying Fish for a long time because of the rave reviews but:
1. very expensive
2. I'm in a park at dinner time, FF is out of the way
But... 30%.... I'll go out of my way in just a few weeks to try it out.
1. very expensive
2. I'm in a park at dinner time, FF is out of the way
But... 30%.... I'll go out of my way in just a few weeks to try it out.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
Too many menus are too similar. The resort restaurants need to do more to sell the food they have and their point of difference.
Too many price increases, if I didn't get the free dining plan for booking in the UK I would have eaten a LOT more off-site.
Competition from Disney Springs, why eat at the boring resort hotels when DS has sooo much choice.
There is a reputation that you need reservations at 180 days to eat on property, most of the time you don't but Disney need to try and educate people away from booking everything.
Too many price increases, if I didn't get the free dining plan for booking in the UK I would have eaten a LOT more off-site.
Competition from Disney Springs, why eat at the boring resort hotels when DS has sooo much choice.
There is a reputation that you need reservations at 180 days to eat on property, most of the time you don't but Disney need to try and educate people away from booking everything.
beertiki
Well-Known Member
I used to HATE downtown Disney. Crowded, not enough bathrooms, hard to get a beer, crowded, food was ok at best.
DS improves all of my complaints, and goes even further with the best quick service on property.
Texas2Florida2017
Member
LOVE DISNEY SPRINGS!!!! It's finally a place where you can go, have a drink and listen to good bands play while watching tourists.
lol. I've always wondered why people book places to eat 180 days before their trip; we seriously have never been turned away as a walk-up to any restaurant...though we don't do character dining so I'm sure those fill up. Anyways, I really hope this is a sign that tourists are finally venturing outside of WDW and checking out all the Amazing restaurants around Orlando!
lol. I've always wondered why people book places to eat 180 days before their trip; we seriously have never been turned away as a walk-up to any restaurant...though we don't do character dining so I'm sure those fill up. Anyways, I really hope this is a sign that tourists are finally venturing outside of WDW and checking out all the Amazing restaurants around Orlando!
Brad Bishop
Well-Known Member
I'd bet that all of that is true. I'd also add, unless this has changed in the last 3ish years or so, that there was drop in food quality / dining experience at the same time there was an increase in prices.
I've said this before: I was the guy who'd pay the premium price to eat at the resorts / in the parks. Each night I'd plan something somewhere and, excepting for a very few restaurants which I didn't care for, I enjoyed it. I knew that the same, or better, quality could be had off-site at the same, or lesser, price. Still, I was in. I enjoyed the food. I enjoyed the atmosphere. I thought it was neat to eat inside the parks / resorts. That was worth a bit of a premium to me. There was about 7 years of doing this, multiple trips a year, each evening having a sit-down meal.
Then, around 2014-2015 I noticed changes. Cloth napkins were being swapped for paper napkins. This is OK if it's a BBQ place but not a higher end place. The food wasn't really as good. The prices went up. I went several times across 2014-2015 and I remember my last on-site meal and me thinking, "This just isn't worth it any longer." That's not a good place for a customer to end up. Since then, I've just eaten off-site, though my trips have fallen off because the whole resort started feeling like "not worth it any longer". I haven't been to WDW since 2015. Mind you, this isn't a "I can't pay that price" but more of a change from, "Yeah, it's more expensive but it's still pretty good and it's a neat experience," to, "This isn't good. It's even more expensive. Now I feel stupid paying the premium."
That's where it stopped for me. I'm guessing others have arrived at the same conclusion. Your long-distance travelers probably wouldn't do that because they have no frame of reference.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Like you, we went through the list and decided prices were unreasonably high at the Signature Restaurants even with the 30% discount.
We ended up eating twice at the Grand Floridian Cafe, getting different meals on each occasion.
The Cafe Sandwich was $16. With 30% off, I thought it was a really good price for even a non Disney restaurant.