Prices increases at WDW

[myaquarium]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

Yep, that's certainly something you can do.

I haven't worked out the overall percentage increase of these prices, but some of the items have increased by 12%. So when the bill comes up and the total price is more but you leave a tip that is a smaller percentage than previously then there's a good chance the server (not Disney) will still be getting as much of a tip as before. And, of course, Disney will still be getting more of your money whether you reduce your tip or not.

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I presume the restaurants will not be as busy as usual, no ddp will have a massive impact.
Feel sorry for the servers who will no doubt lose out one way or the other.
I’m going back to tipping in notes rather than percentages.
Il leave $10 $20 $30 depending on service in future. When it was ddp we use to get stung for 60 to 80 dollars sometimes with poor service but this was normally paid thru our room charges which we just signed. Not no more.

[loldis]

Originally Posted by myaquarium

I presume the restaurants will not be as busy as usual, no ddp will have a massive impact.
Feel sorry for the servers who will no doubt lose out one way or the other.
I’m going back to tipping in notes rather than percentages.
Il leave $10 $20 $30 depending on service in future. When it was ddp we use to get stung for 60 to 80 dollars sometimes with poor service but this was normally paid thru our room charges which we just signed. Not no more.

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The restaurants will still be busy. Remember most domestic guests on DDP were paying for it, free DDP was an extremely limited offer in the US. When purchasing DDP, you more or less break even rather than save money. So it's not a huge impact to switch to OOP.

[Jaspercat10]

The restaurants are as busy as ever, wait until you do a supermarket shop it makes it look like they are giving it away here , I could not believe the price of food this Christmas

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by myaquarium

I presume the restaurants will not be as busy as usual, no ddp will have a massive impact.

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I have no idea how busy the restaurants are at the moment, but I would guess that they are pretty much as busy as they've always been. I don't think the lack of DDP has had that much of an impact.

I think some of the restaurants still aren't open? More to do with lack of available staff than anything else. That'll mean the restaurants that are open will get a higher percentage of guests than they did a couple of years ago.

Originally Posted by myaquarium

Feel sorry for the servers who will no doubt lose out one way or the other.

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I'm not sure whether they will be losing out?

You could argue that, with Disney increasing their food prices and a similar number of people still paying a tip based on 18% or 20% of the total bill (before tax), then each guest will give a larger tip on average than before. I don't think it's quite that simple though.

Obviously if people choose to tip their server less then, yes, the server will get less money. But that's up to them.

[kk20]

We simply adjust our plans, we end up spending the same amount more or less. This time we will be taking more snacks into the park with us, fewer hand cart treats. We had never used a "grocery shop to the hotel" service before, this time we will be so our drinks and snacks will be sorted. No DDP this time, only a token amount of credit (the gripe is this is per room not per person) so far fewer TS meals for us, more QS "kids" meals. We will probably uber offsite to a restaurant rather than more signature reservations.

[moosha]

Originally Posted by Mexy02

The dining credit isn’t going to go very far is it !

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I was thinking that yesterday, we got $68 per night for Yacht Club….might just about cover one counter service meal per day if we’re careful and drink only tap water .

[moosha]

Originally Posted by myaquarium

I presume the restaurants will not be as busy as usual, no ddp will have a massive impact.
Feel sorry for the servers who will no doubt lose out one way or the other.
I’m going back to tipping in notes rather than percentages.
Il leave $10 $20 $30 depending on service in future. When it was ddp we use to get stung for 60 to 80 dollars sometimes with poor service but this was normally paid thru our room charges which we just signed. Not no more.

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Originally Posted by loldis

The restaurants will still be busy. Remember most domestic guests on DDP were paying for it, free DDP was an extremely limited offer in the US. When purchasing DDP, you more or less break even rather than save money. So it's not a huge impact to switch to OOP.

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Originally Posted by Jaspercat10

The restaurants are as busy as ever, wait until you do a supermarket shop it makes it look like they are giving it away here , I could not believe the price of food this Christmas

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Originally Posted by Nimbus

I have no idea how busy the restaurants are at the moment, but I would guess that they are pretty much as busy as they've always been. I don't think the lack of DDP has had that much of an impact.

I think some of the restaurants still aren't open? More to do with lack of available staff than anything else. That'll mean the restaurants that are open will get a higher percentage of guests than they did a couple of years ago.




I'm not sure whether they will be losing out?

You could argue that, with Disney increasing their food prices and a similar number of people still paying a tip based on 18% or 20% of the total bill (before tax), then each guest will give a larger tip on average than before. I don't think it's quite that simple though.

Obviously if people choose to tip their server less then, yes, the server will get less money. But that's up to them.

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When we were there over Christmas, it was really hard to get ADRs for most places even a month or so in advance. A lot of people on here were struggling with getting something booked. When we got there, in reality at least some of the restaurants weren’t actually full. At Liberty Tree Tavern and Rose and Crown the restaurants were probably two thirds full when we ate there. I had read (probably on here) that because of staffing shortages and the pandemic Disney weren’t operating restaurants at full capacity. So that may only be a shortish term thing. And it does seem to vary as Skipper Canteen was definitely full when we were there.

As always some restaurants were busier than others (Beaches and Cream was full for our 4 pm ADR and we had to wait 10 / 15 minutes, at 4 pm!) But it does always amaze me that we’re all happy or at least willing to pay these high prices. I guess it’s the mentality of ‘we’re on holiday’ and it’s only short term (especially for US guests who may only be there for a long weekend or so.)

For me though, I definitely felt the quality of table service food has gone down since we were last at Disney in 2019 and portions seemed smaller which I’ve seen other people say online too. We spent about £180 including tip on Christmas Day at Tiffins for four appetisers, two mains, a dessert and four alcoholic drinks. If I try and equate that to here, at a good chain or even somewhere decent in London with good food, Disney would be more expensive. And the entrees were small and pretty underwhelming. When you’re paying so much it obviously raises expectations so when the food is average at best it’s very disappointing.

I definitely think on our next trip in August we’ll do less in-park table service as the food at Disney Springs is just better (mostly not Disney operated). We spent a lot on food at Disney this trip because ‘It’s Christmas!’ and ‘We haven’t been for two years’ but it’s just not worth the money. Next trip will be more shared counter service or more splitting meals at table service restaurants. And we’ve already cut our Disney days from 12 to 10.

[Jaspercat10]

I agree with your comment re quality, we ate in Paradiso 37 which was truly dreadful, and we thought the portions had also shrank in general, Sannaa was particularly noticeable, we were spending at least $200 plus a night on an fairly average meal we did not do any signature restaurants and had no starters or deserts that was for 6 of us, Universal was much the same, but we also found Naples on a similar price point as the parks. The only place where it was almost half to eat and drink was at Crystal Rivers