Character Dining Price Increases at Disney World (Fall 2024)
Walt Disney World has raised rates on multiple character dining experiences, with breakfast, lunch & dinner at many of the most popular (and least popular!) meals having gone up by several dollars each. This offers a rundown of before & after pricing, plus our commentary about the dubious decision to raise rates as ADR demand drops.
This comes amidst other price increases to start the Walt Disney Company’s new fiscal year. At Walt Disney World, this includes (at least) Annual Passes and probably more. The full extent of the “damage” is presently unknown because WDW is in the midst of a widespread tech outage. Thankfully (I guess?), the online menus are displaying, and we’re seeing widespread price increases.
In addition to character meals, Walt Disney World bumped up the price of hundreds of menu items all around the parks & resorts at Walt Disney World. This covered everything from counter service staples to snacks at outdoor vending carts to alcoholic beverages, and the hundreds–if not thousands–of different items that went up in price anywhere between $.20 and $2-3 on average. Unsurprisingly, character dining experiences are on the higher end of the spectrum. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve seen with character meal price increases at Walt Disney World…
Let’s start inside Magic Kingdom towards the front of the park, with Crystal Palace: A Buffet with Characters featuring Winnie the Pooh and Friends. Breakfast at Crystal Palace went from $48 to $52 for adults and from $30 to $33 for children. Likewise, lunch and dinner (same buffet, subdivided by hours) increased from $61 to $62 for adults and from $40 to $42 for kids.
Next up is Cinderella’s Royal Table, which last saw price increases twice last year. First, when princesses returned to the dining room and then again at the start of the new fiscal year.
Following that, October 2024 brings with it the second round of price increases. Breakfast increased from $69 to $74 for adults and from $42 to $45 for children. It’s a similar story for the lunch and dinner services, which jumped from $84 to $88 for adults and from $49 to $52 for kids.
On top of this, various premium cocktails, wine, and other alcoholic beverages have also gone up at menus around Walt Disney World. Expect to pay $.50 to a few dollars more for drinks at Cinderella’s Royal Table, should you order anything that isn’t included in the flat-rate prix fixe price.
Walt Disney World has also raised the price of Magic Kingdom’s other royal restaurant. (Okay, so you’re not actually dining inside that toy castle perched atop the mountain…and that big mess hall in the middle doesn’t feel very regal…but this is still technically inside Beast’s Castle!)
At Be Our Guest Restaurant, lunch and dinner increased from $70 to $72 per adult and from $41 to $43 per child. Similar to Cinderella’s Royal Table, there are also a variety of higher booze prices at Be Our Guest.
Breakfast still is not back at Beast’s Castle, which really seems like Walt Disney World leaving money on the table given what they’re charging for lunch and dinner. Last I was there for the Halloween dinner, Beast had also once again returned to roaming around the room at a distance from guests like it’s still late 2020. (He was doing the meet & greet this summer, but that “test” ended, apparently.)
I feel like I should stop sharing this opinion as fewer and fewer people agree with each passing year, but Be Our Guest is still our #2 restaurant in Magic Kingdom. That’s not the highest of praise given the (lack of) competition, but we think it gets disproportionate hate. A lot of that is driven by sky-high expectations and hype. If you take that away, it’s an above-average Walt Disney World restaurant. (That can be excellent if you order the filet and get a good cut that’s properly-cooked.)
Regardless, even I’m seeing these new prices and wondering to myself whether I’m still on board. I’ve lost the capacity for surprise when it comes to Walt Disney World increasing prices, but I feel it’s also appropriate to point out that the popularity of Be Our Guest Restaurant as measured by ADR availability has absolutely plummeted over the years. Sure, it’s hard to book during peak season (e.g. most of the next few months), but it’s so much easier than it once was.
Total aside, but it’s pretty wild to me that only a few years ago, people were able to do dinner inside Beast’s Castle and order only a cupcake. Not just that, but that this was a known problem for a long time, and it Walt Disney World several years to do anything about it.(File this under “why we can’t have nice things.” It’s also the explanation the next time you’re wondering why another prix fixe menu is replacing an a la carte one.)
From Magic Kingdom, we take a quick stroll (or monorail ride) over to Disney’s Contemporary Resort. In the Grand Canyon Concourse, the flagship character dining experience has seen another change, as prices have gone up at Chef Mickey’s.
Breakfast at Chef Mickey’s now costs $58 per adult, up from $54, and $37 per child, up from $37.
Dinner at Chef Mickey’s has also now been increased to $69 per adult (up from $66) and $44 per child (up from $41). As with other restaurants, smoothies and other specialty drinks have also gone up in price by $.50 to a couple dollars each.
Heading over to nearby(ish) Wilderness Lodge, we “finally” have a price increase on the popular Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White. This character dining experience serves dinner features Show White, Dopey, Grumpy, and the Evil Queen.
Previously, Storybook Dining was $65 for adults and $39 per child. Now, it’s $67 for adults and $41 per child. Still not much of an increase, all things considered–especially since it’s now a 2-credit meal on the DDP. (It’s somehow cheaper than several 1-credit meals!)
More to the point, Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White is the most popular character meal and can be one of the more challenging Advance Dining Reservations in all of Walt Disney World. Subjectively, I would also contend that Story Book Dining at Artist Point is the best character dinner (distinguished from breakfast or lunch–a total cop out by me) in all of Walt Disney World.
We next enter EPCOT, where a couple of character meal prices have increased. Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast at Garden Grill raised its prices for breakfast. Breakfast bounced from $47 to $49 per adult and from $30 to $33 per child. Lunch and dinner remain unchanged for adults at $62 per person, but went up for kids from $40 to $42.
Back in World Showcase, the more popular EPCOT character dining experience also increased in price. Breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall now costs $59 for adults (up from $55) and $38 for kids (up from $35).
Lunch and dinner at Akershus now charge $69 for adults (previously $67) and $46 for children (previously $43). As with the other character dining experiences that have separate charges for alcohol, prices there are also up.
You probably get the idea at this point. With the exception of Garden Grill for adults at lunch/dinner, everything we’ve checked has gone up by a few dollars per person. Expect that trend to hold true for most other character dining experiences at Walt Disney World.
As we’ve discussed previously, it’s common for Walt Disney World to increase menu prices to improve the illusion of value on the Disney Dining Plan. If you’re doing the math on meals and comparing menu prices to the cost of the DDP, the latter becomes more attractive when the former is higher. Prices already increased for the 2025 Disney Dining Plan, so it tracks that menus would follow suit, sadly.
This is especially true for families interested in doing a lot of character dining experiences, as those are among the most compelling “arguments” in favor of purchasing the Disney Dining Plan. This is especially true now, as the cheaper prices for kids and expensive prices for adults makes the Disney Dining Plan a better option for families with more kids–and worse option for adults with fewer or no children.
This is probably precisely why we’ve seen far less interest in the Disney Dining Plan than normal. When it returned, there was a brief window of excitement, followed by complaints as guests saw the higher prices. Since then it’s been pretty much crickets.
It’s entirely possible that the Disney Dining Plan is still selling well, and is just outperforming with first-timers or fans who don’t read this blog. Obviously, we are not representative of the park-going public. Nevertheless, I’ve been taken aback by the disinterest in the Disney Dining Plan…and in Free Dining!
I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but the fan reaction to Free Dining wasn’t remotely on par with what it had been in the past. Part of this is attributable to its targeted nature, but it was offered to Disney+ subscribers and Disney Visa members. I’m guessing most readers of this site have one or both affiliations. And if not, it’s like seven bucks to qualify for the promo via a month of the former. Not exactly a major barrier to entry.
The biggest reason I’m fairly confident that our anecdotal assessments apply to the park-going public is that Advance Dining Reservations have fallen off a cliff. A number of restaurants–even ones that aren’t normally that challenging–were incredibly competitive during the height of pent-up demand and staffing shortages.
In the last 18 months, ADRs have gotten progressively easier for all but a handful of options (fair warning: Candlelight Processional Dining Packages will probably still be very competitive–one of the exceptions to the rule). We’ve managed to score ADRs to everything we’ve wanted this year, and quite often only a few days to a few hours ahead of time. We expected this to change with the arrival of Free Dining season–since that always used to be the case–but it did not.
In any event, it’s somewhat surprising to see Walt Disney World raise prices on character dining experiences that aren’t even booking up to begin with. Perhaps the strategy is making more money (or maintaining the status quo) with fewer guests, but it’s a bold bet that this won’t just accelerate the decline.
We’ve already been on the fence about some character meals, debating whether to go now or wait until Megatron will remember the experience. At least for a couple of them, this tilts the scale in the favor of waiting. And we’re bloggers! One of the demos that has a higher price tolerance than most! We shall see how this approach works out for them with the broader park-going public.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of these character meals and other recent price increases at Walt Disney World? Think this is a natural consequence of inflation (etc.), or another example of Disney getting more greedy? Will these price increases impact your plans for future vacations? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Think there will be long-term consequences for Walt Disney World resulting from its pricing trends the last few years? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
our Granddaughters which are 11 and 15 both want to go to Crystal Palace for our upcoming vacation in January. but the price! is it really worth it?
if they are pooh and friends fans, I assure you its worth it. im a 36 yr old pooh fan and it was MAGICAL!!! easily one of the best mornings of my entire life. we just went in January.
They need to have a ‘young adult’ tier for the meal plan. It’s ridiculous to charge the same price as an adult who can order alcohol with their meal. How hasn’t anyone at Disney realized this yet?!
Also bringing back 2 snacks would help too. We loved it!!
I have three dining plan “adults” now, two of whom very much still order off the kids menu everywhere else for both taste and quantity of food. My budget isn’t touching the DDP or a buffet with a 10ft pole, and those were some of our favorites last time.
When I saw the character meals at Disneyland went up to $65 for breakfast I realized Character Dining will never be a thing for my family. Fortunately, my daughter is shy with the characters anyway. Even with Minnie, her favorite, it took her a few minutes to be comfortable enough to hug her. I’ll stick to meeting them in the park when it makes sense and save the money for other things.
Enough is enough. I voted with my wallet.
I read the article, reviewed the menu prices myself, then went directly to my account and canceled every single ADR we had for our upcoming trip in December, except one.
That is 5 ADRs cancelled because at some point – paying to take a family of 5 to a character meal just becomes ridiculous. I think I have personally reached that point.
I was excited for those meals. They are part of the magic for us. So will this trip leave me chomping at the bit to come back, now that we’ve majorly cut back on our plans because they keep pricing us further and further away from the trip we WANT to be taking?
Time will tell..
We were just there a few weeks ago, and the prices have gotten ridiculous. We did Cinderella’s Castle almost a year ago but that is definitely a one and done when 3 of my kids are “adults” and the price just keeps shooting higher, even for breakfast. We were lucky that on our last trip my youngest “Disney adult” was allowed to order off the kids menu at every a la carte sitdown we did with no trouble (she wasn’t interested in the adult options), but even these kid prices are crazy for what you get. Disney needs to read the room for sure. We are a big Disney family, but this gives us reason to pause in thinking about when we’ll make our next trip.
When we went in July, for the first time ever we passed on the character dining. Our kid’s an adult now, past legal drinking age at this point, though we’re all big kids for this sort of thing. But we skipped because of the pricing, which has just gotten insane, instead hitting restaurants that were $20+ cheaper than character dining yet serving equivalent food, or quick service for dinner or offsite dining.
Instead, we got PhotoPass and used it with every character we could. PhotoPass, of course, is also getting pricier each trip. But used the heck out of it, and you only need 1 purchase to get the downloads and forward to everyone in the family. Now, there were naturally reservations we could not have gotten, but the ADRs told us we could have had character dining morning, noon and night if we had wanted to. But Disney blew past our tolerance level for this gouging.
Just got back from 46 year anniversary trip,had dinner with Snow White on Sunday evening and breakfast with stitch and lilo before going to Halloween party on Monday evening. Two meals, two party tickets and two nights at the all star sports and we spent over 1000.00. And the all star renovations were great but the downside to the sports hotel is that the bus for magic kingdom loads and unloads at the spot the most far away from entrance to magic kingdom the walk to and from that bus is at least half a mile! If we go back next year we decided to stay at wilderness lodge through the bounce back deal because it’s just a short boat ride from magic kingdom closer than walking up the monorail ramp. Oh and prices for both meals were at the old prices I told my husband he got a deal, lol
did the Topolinos breakfast go up too?
From $49 to $52. No one cancelled yet since the announcement. Still trying to get a reservation.
I have 4 kids, and the only way we were able to do fixed price meals on our last trip was by taking advantage of the “Kids get 1/2 off tickets and dining plan” promo. Even then, we only made the dining plan worth it by having two regular rooms rather than a family suite. That way I could be in a room with the 3 younger kids on the kid promo, while my husband and oldest child were on a separate reservation that did not lock us into getting 2 more adult dining plans. And I 100% agree with the Disney “child” definition qualms. My oldest is 11 and did not qualify for the kid promo, and that normally rules out any meal where we have to pay adult prices for her. Fortunately, many of the cast members at table service restaurants understand this and do not make an issue of kids over 9 ordering from the kids menu. Even at Be Our Guest, the cast member was wonderful and allowed her to get the kids menu when I said she would really prefer to order from there.
The other thing that makes character meals so unaffordable for families is the definition of a “child” for child pricing maxing out at 9 years old. A family of four with 2 pre-teens or young adults is paying around $200 for breakfast, for example. There is no way my 10 or 12 year old is eating the equivalent amount as an adult. If you have an older child with a younger sibling who would still enjoy the character experience, you’re probably opting out as we have done.
Totally agreed about “Disney Adults” who are actually kids for all intents and (appetite) purposes. It’s especially egregious when the pricing includes alcohol, which is built into the price but those “adults” cannot legally order.
We’re a long ways from that point, but we won’t do any of those packages on principle when our daughter is in that age range.
Our family loves character meals, but we have cut back due to how expensive they are.
We haven’t used the DDP in years. Bottom line? We spend more than we would paying out of pocket. Now that my youngest are 10 and “adults” the DDP is a really bad deal. They prefer Mac and cheese to the adult offerings. Not to mention none of my kids drink alcohol!
I do not understand why Disney classifies 10 as an adult. Ticket prices are negligible in the price difference. But dining is huge!
Our posts crossed Lori, ditto!
I’ve been banging this drum for years. The DDP is NOT a gateway to savings.
After mortgage and car payments, the cost of clothing, grocery bills and their children’s extracurricular activities, I have to wonder how the average family can afford a trip to Disney. And it’s not just hotel, food and admissions. It’s now also Lightening Lane costs. If you don’t get LL, you miss out on the attractions that may be important to your family. What is the sense of spending all that money to go to Disney and not get to ride the attractions?
Not surprised, but Disney needs to read the room. The merchandise is shoddy and garish. Ears went from $20-$35 in five years, sometimes up to $44, and ADRs are NOT hard to find anymore. I think folks are trimming the fat from eating and shopping in order to afford Genie/LL/ILL/LL$$. You can’t afford every category of upcharge on a trip. I also think free dining and the DDP bloggers have gotten the word out that it’s not the deal people remember it being preCovid. I don’t hear any families wanting to bother, not just because of cost, but mostly because dining reservations are too hard to juggle with ride reservations and virtual queues. I’m not getting dinged $10ppX4 missing my Biergarten window trapped at GoTG queue. It can take over an hour to gwt through the line, plus hustling over to the restaurant or dealing with a bus/boat/monorail/Skyliner. Too many moving parts to deal with ADRs and DDP, at least for me when we travel as a family.
Heather, I totally agree that managing LL reservation times and dining reservations in the same day just seems like too much. we are planning on doing either LL or ADR for a given day of our vacation. And the ADRs are largely to meet princesses, since they took them out of the LLs.