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That snap you heard? My camel's back is breaking!
- Thread starter Weather_Lady
- Start date
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Correct, gratuity is included with CRT pricing.
Last year it was, now it's about $92 per adult.
I'm also not sure what "high season" for restaurants is anymore, as it seems more often than not it is.
Keep in mind a few years ago that meals at CRT (and Akershus) also included a photo package, that was removed despite prices going up.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Lunch and Dinner at the Crystal Palace is now $61.25 + tip per adult, what the heck?!
They have the same restaurant at Tokyo Disneyland. The buffet there is only $29, but Pooh doesn't come to your table. The Japanese still seem happy, though:
They have the same restaurant at Tokyo Disneyland. The buffet there is only $29, but Pooh doesn't come to your table. The Japanese still seem happy, though:
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Fair price TBH. Supply and demand. Ever heard of it?
Well then, maybe they should raise the price to $75 or $100 a head!
I mean, you could always eat extra peanut butter sandwiches during the rest of your trip to make up the difference, right?
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
That is an insane lunch price. Im sorry, and yes supply and demand, but this just keeps pushing people towards that DDP.Fair price TBH. Supply and demand. Ever heard of it?
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Lately, being on these boards, I’ve learned from Eliza and Buu and Others, that the only sound business practice is to extract maximum dollars out of your customer. Push that envelope as far as you can. It’s actually TDOs responsibility to shareholders. Guest satisfaction be damned. Repeat guests be damned. Get that money!Well then, maybe they should raise the price to $75 or $100 a head!
I mean, you could always eat extra peanut butter sandwiches during the rest of your trip to make up the difference, right?
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
I gave up trying to determine seasonal prices. I just pretty much go with the most expensive and if it comes out less it is a bonus.
"High season is 10:00 AM July 2 through 11:37 AM Aug 6, except for alternate Tuesdays between 4:02 PM and 6:38 PM"
VaderTron
Well-Known Member
But you still have to pay tax and tip on the billed price of $450 out of pocket. So, when you order the most expensive thing it still ends up costing more, unless you tip the same no matter the bill. If you tip standard 18-20% that's a huge blow to the savings.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
At Cinderella's Royal Table the tip is included in the meal price.
VaderTron
Well-Known Member
True I forgot about that unique benefit of that location. But not at Yachtsman's, 'Ohana, Narcoossee, and most other places. All those you easily spend close to the same and must leave a tip.
VaderTron
Well-Known Member
And the cyclical discussion of the value of free dining starts anew.
Raineman
Well-Known Member
In three WDW vacations so far, we have always gotten the DDP, merely for the perceived "convenience". TBH, I am neither a proponent or a detractor of the DDP-my DW finds more value in it so,whatever, I know we'll be dropping a decent amount of $$ on food at WDW no matter what. I am curious, however, what the comparison would be if we did not get the DDP for our next trip and paid OOP. Many on here have said that it will always be less than the cost of the DDP-but I think there are factors in play that would maybe not make it an accurate comparison. For example, if you have the DDP, you go to a TS location and look at the menu. Most people have two trains of thought-is there something I like on here that I want to try, or is there something I like on here that I usually can't afford to buy but I'll get it becuse it's already covered. If you are paying OOP, I think for the majority of people it would boil down to "there's a few things I want to try, but I just bought that lightsaber at SW:GE which wasn't in the vacation budget, so I'll just get the burger instead of the steak". In those cases, OOP will almost always be less than the DDP, so the decision when planning the trip is "Do I want to eat anything regardless of cost and know exactly what I'll be paying months before we go" or "We'll set a food budget for the trip, and try to make sure we don't go over, but there is a chance we will spend more than we want to". The discussion of the effect of the DDP on food quality/cost at WDW is relevant to the overall view on the DDP, but the strictly financial decision aspect when planning the trip may not always be so black and white in terms of a numbers comparison.
Minnesota disney fan
Well-Known Member
Hi Raineman:
My husband and I always used the fDP. But I realized that I just don't eat that much anymore, but made myself just to "justify" the FDP. We always felt too full, and never had room for any of the great snack items (mickey bars, yea). But we felt like we had to order the most expensive thing and eat all of it. I know, we didn't have to do it, but we are just wired that way apparently
Then I decided we should try without the FDP. It took a lot of convincing to finally get my husband to try it.
We did this 3 years ago, loved it, and never went back to FDP. Why?
We found that we didn't eat as much, and were therefore not too full to try all the delicious snack food while wandering the parks.
I did the money thing, and we came out less than with the dining plan. For this tryout, we ate when and where we wanted. We ate what we wanted no matter the cost. Had all the extra ice cream, etc, we wanted. We didn't monitor ourselves at all. It was a surprise to find out that we actually paid less than we thought we would. Sometimes we shared an entry; sometimes I ate a children's meals, sometimes we just skipped meals altogether and snacked all day. It was so freeing to NOT have to be at a certain park at a certain time just to eat. It wasn't that important to us.
2 interesting facts: We are 2 older adults, and our eating habits have changed a lot.
We aren't "foodies" and have to eat at signature restaurants. (nothing wrong with that at all, just not us
Theme park food is fine with us and that's what we expect at a theme park. We did splurge on our anniversary dinner at a fabulous place, but even that did not cost more than with FDP.I think that people with children who love characters actually find the value, and those with hungry all the time teenagers
But for us, no FDP works for us. Hope this long winded statement helps
VaderTron
Well-Known Member
There is no possible way to spend more out of pocket "by chance" than if you bought a DDP for your entire trip. You have to purposely buy the most expensive thing every time (even if it's not what you like best on the menu or feel like eating that day) to come close to breaking even on the DDP. Most places that have that really expensive entree you normally wouldn't buy take 2 TS credits. So, any perception of gain is lost there. Some of those restaurants don't even include the most expensive thing in the DDP or note that there will be an upcharge if your order that item.
What I think you are saying is "I don't want to be surprised by how much I spent on food. I want to know before I go what money is allocated to my food budget." Here is my suggestion. Price out what the DDP would be. Set that money aside ahead of time. Then go and pay out of pocket with that money you normally would have spent on a DDP. Unless you go absolutely insane and buy a ton of drinks you will not exceed that budget. In fact you will probably be delighted to see you have a little extra to spend on something else in the park you normally wouldn't get to do.
*Edit*: You must also follow the same "rules" that you would under a DDP. You can't go to restaurants that would take up more TS credits than you would have had on a DDP and then complain if you spent more than a DDP. There is still some self-control involved.
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Raineman
Well-Known Member
I would love to test that theory, and I really think that we would spend less, because having the DDP is kind of like vacationing at an all-inclusive resort-"I am free to have anything I want and any amount that I want, it's already paid for!" If I was paying for food OOP, I'd be more discerning in what I get based on the price of the item combined with what I want to eat, even if it is subconsciously, as I am becoming more and more frugal as I age. We tend to visit the same TS locations at WDW, so I'd like to test the theory out even without visiting, just by assuming that $50 out of the $75 DDP allotment is for TS meals and looking at the menus and the items I usually get, to see if a week of TS meals would come close to what I paid for the DDP. I'll be at WDW in a little over a week, maybe I'll track the cost of everything I get for TS meals and do the comparison as it happens. Numbers never lie....
Minnesota disney fan
Well-Known Member
OneofThree
Well-Known Member
I cannot echo this sentiment enough. YS has become a shell of what it once was. Last visit -both filets were ordered medium and came out on the done side of medium-well, the sides, while flavorful, were about as salty as the shaker itself, and what was sold to me as lobster was more like tire tread. Our server was. . . nice. (We'll stop short of dealing with the tanks tops and flips flops).
I did like the wife beater I saw a few times ago.... One bad meal I'll give it another chance....Two in a row... BYE BYE