Tons of Price Increases on Food, Snacks & Drinks at Disney World (Fall 2024)

Walt Disney World has raised menu prices on hundreds (over 2,000 if you count repeats) of food & beverages at all 4 theme parks, resort hotels, and beyond as of late October 2024. This includes counter service & fine dining restaurants, snacks, desserts, bottled beverages, mixed alcoholic drinks & more. This post shares a sampling of the price hikes, plus our commentary about why this is happening and more.

This comes amidst other price increases to start the Walt Disney Company’s new fiscal year. Disneyland already had increased prices a couple weeks ago on park tickets, Lightning Lanes, and Magic Keys, but Florida waited due to the timing of the hurricane. Now Walt Disney World has followed suit, increasing prices on Annual Passes, 2025 park tickets, valet parking, and more.

We’ve already reported on Walt Disney World’s character dining price increases, which are up pretty much across the board. Interestingly, it’s a bit of a different approach for other restaurants. From what we’re seeing here, it’s disproportionately signature dining, food courts & counter service restaurants, bars & lounges, and outdoor vending carts that have increased.

What this means is that the most expensive restaurants are getting even more expensive. Places like the Hollywood Brown Derby, Tiffins, Le Cellier Steakhouse, and more have seen increases that amount to around 4-7% higher prices. Since these were expensive to begin with, that can be jumps of $5 or more for some entrees. (That’s how percentages work, I’m told.)

Interestingly, we’ve also noticed that themed dining seems to be disproportionately hit by the increases. Unique restaurants like Coral Reef, Toy Story Roundup Rodeo, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, and other themed spots. Basically, the company seems to have done a targeted approach to increase prices at the type of table service restaurants you’d normally identify with Walt Disney World or wouldn’t find in the real world.

So what does that leave that didn’t increase? A lot, actually! Think of the restaurants you wouldn’t normally think of. Pretty much all of those. The ‘ole reliables’ as we like to call them, because they fly under the radar of first-timers. This encompasses mid-tier table service restaurants in the parks and (especially) resorts as well as Disney Springs–the type of places that aren’t often talked about but are frequently underrated. This makes some degree of sense–these disproportionately compete with real world counterparts and many already offer 40% Cast Member discounts to fill tables.

At the other end of the spectrum, prices at counter service restaurants, food courts and outdoor vending carts have also increased on certain items, but not everything–or even the most important things, as most entrees are immune. What’s gone up on the fast food front is mostly impulse buys, non-necessities, or indulgences. Not much else to say about these increases, as they’re the prices that consistently go up year in and year out at the start of each fiscal year.

 

Speaking of which, Walt Disney World has returned to its normal cadence of resort-wide price increase for food & beverages in October. After a couple of increases in 2022, the last two years have seen prices go up once–after Disney’s new fiscal year starts.

This isn’t to say there aren’t other price increases throughout the year–there absolutely are. Various menus have ‘adjustments’ from time to time, especially those operated by third parties. But October is the one time of the year when there’s an almost across-the-board increase that applies to the vast majority of menus at Walt Disney World.

Aside from the aforementioned mid-tier table service restaurants, almost every menu I’ve checked has been impacted, but there are a few stragglers still showing the old prices. If past precedent is any indication, they’ll be updated in the coming days, too.

Here’s a rundown of common items that have increased in price, and by how much:

• Mickey Pretzel (various locations) – Increased from $7.79 from $7.99
• Churros (various locations) – Increased from $6.79 to $6.99
• Popcorn (various locations) – Increased from $5.50 to $6.00
• Dole Whip (various locations & flavors) – Increased from $5.79 to $5.99
• Fountain Drinks (various locations) – Increased from $4.49 to $4.79
• Freshly Brewed Joffrey’s Coffee (various locations) – Increased from $3.79 to $4.29
• Powerade (various locations) – Increased from $4.99 to $5.50
• DASANI Bottled Water – Increased from $3.75 to $4.00
• Bottled Beverages – Increased from $5.25 to $5.50
• smartwater Bottled Water – Increased from $5.75 to $6.00

This is just a small sampling of the snacks, drinks, desserts, and more that have increased–we tried to emphasize items that can be found on a variety of menus. With that said, plenty of specific fan-favorite items have also increased, such as School Bread in Norway, the Wookie Cookie at Hollywood Studios, pretty much every ice cream sundae, cinnamon rolls, and more.

This should give you a rough idea of what the price increases look like at counter service restaurants, food courts, and outdoor vending carts (ODVs).

In general, we’re seeing standard snacks and drinks increasing at counter service spots by $.20 to $.50, although some items appear to have been overlooked entirely. Notably, we aren’t seeing across the board increases on stereotypical theme park cuisine–staple entrees like chicken tenders, nuggets, burgers, pizza, etc. For their part, many salads still haven’t broken the $10 barrier, either.

For unique entrees, the price increases (or lack thereof) aren’t as consistent. In spot-checking, we noticed a number of gourmet burgers, salads, and other dinner specialties that did not increase. Standard hot dogs are another inconsistent one–some of these have gone up, some have not. Perhaps there’s another wave of increases coming and those will be swept up in that.

Many/most items at outdoor vending carts appear to have increased by $.25 to $.50. This may seem minor, but ODV prices shot up last year and are up significantly since 2018/2019. If my records are any indication, many of these items have seen increases totaling over $1 in the last 3 years. If you last visited in 2017, you might be surprised that some of these items have come close to doubling in cost.

There are actually a handful of pre-packaged products that went up twice in 2022 (February and October), once in 2023, and are now up again in October 2024. Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I am unbothered by this. A few weeks ago, someone posted a ‘ragebait’ tweet about how much 6 bottles of smartwater cost them in the parks and my main thought was that’s kind of on you for buying smartwater in the first place! Or, as the kids say, “skill issue.”

This probably won’t win me many friends, but frankly, I feel the same way about alcohol. Don’t get me wrong–I have nothing against it in the parks–but I also don’t mind family-friendly theme parks charging sky-high prices on booze to discourage overindulgence. Disney charging a “convenience tax” on all of this stuff–ODV impulse buys, booze, bottled beverages–that subsidizes lower prices on staples at counter service restaurants does not bother me in the least. But I digress.

The takeaway for planning purposes is that if you’re visiting Walt Disney World between now and 2025, increase your dining budget by about $3 to $10 per ‘special’ table service meal, $1 per counter service meal, and 50 cents per snacking session. Some things didn’t increase at all and others are only up by $.20, so that’s still about the average when you factor in everything.

While arguably no price increase is a good increase, the silver lining is that the 2024 price increases are not nearly as bad as the last two years. And last year’s price increases weren’t as bad as 2022, which was hit really hard. Again, that’s when many items increased twice, for a total of a few dollars and double-digit percentages! There’s almost nothing here on par with that.

With the 2024 food price increases, it’s entirely possible–albeit improbable–that some guests won’t feel these at all. If you mainly do counter service restaurants or lower-tier table service and do not order drinks or desserts, your budget doesn’t necessarily need to increase. This was the most cost-effective way of doing Walt Disney World before, and that remains the case going forward–so at least there’s that positive!

More restrained and targeted price increases on menus around Walt Disney World shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.

Inflation has peaked and is definitely decelerating as compared to last year when it was accelerating. (Note that slowing inflation is not the same as deflation–the former means a slower rise whereas the latter means a decrease. Two very different terms!)

What you’re paying at the grocery store has probably increased (and not decreased) in the last year, but the percentage change is a lot lower this year than it was from late 2021 to late 2022. That’s evident from the USDA price data, and mirrored in the menu price increases at Walt Disney World. They’re still going in the wrong direction, but to a more normal and tolerable degree than last year.

With that said, we can’t help wonder if the direction will change. I know, I know–wishful thinking. But what’s more powerful than the magic of a dream your heart makes, right?! And I wish for lower menu prices.

Even though Walt Disney World prices tend to only go in one direction–up–there actually is recent precedent for lowering menu prices. Real world fast food chains have been lowering their prices in the last several months. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and Subway are all offering new, lower-priced value meals.

All of these chains (and others) have reported that budget-conscious consumers aren’t visiting as much, and they’ve responded to this behavior by trying to lure back lost customers with lower prices and better value. It should go without saying that Walt Disney World is different than fast food restaurants for a number of reasons, but the sentiment about needing to lure back lost consumers rings true.

It just probably won’t happen, whenever it does happen, via lower counter service menu prices. That’s not #1 on the list of reasons why Walt Disney World has lost lifelong fans. It’s probably not even in the top 10 or 20. At some point, though, Disney is going to have to pull more of its “levers” to reverse the ongoing attendance decline. It’ll be interesting to see what that entails.

One thing worth noting is that even if prices haven’t increased, that doesn’t mean the value proposition has remained the same. By now, you’re probably familiar with the ‘wise words’ of dearly-departed Disney CFO Christine McCarthy who mentioned managing costs on earnings calls: “We can adjust suppliers. We can substitute products…We can look at pricing where necessary. We aren’t going to go just straight across and increase prices.”

This was also the source of her now-infamous line: “We can cut portion sizes, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines.” (Sorry, I know I reference this a lot. I still can’t get over the absurdity of her thinking this was a thing she should say out loud.)

This sentiment is hardly unique to Walt Disney World. Terms like “skimpflation” and “shrinkflation” have entered our collective vernacular, and Walt Disney World has become a poster child for both. Portion sizes have become noticeably smaller in the last couple of years, with quality cuts along with them. We’ve definitely still been hungry when leaving some Walt Disney World restaurants.

Honestly, even though I’m reporting about these price increases and offering commentary, I view this as far less “newsworthy” or annoying than other price increases at Walt Disney World.

Part of this might be a certain numbness to higher food costs. It’s happening literally everywhere, and unlike admission or Annual Pass prices that are totally divorced from inflationary forces at this point, there’s a direct through-line between many menu prices and inflation. Disney’s margins at many restaurants are probably minimal.

Not only that, but higher menu prices feel even more out of control in the real world. There used to be an enormous chasm between fast food/casual chain prices and Walt Disney World counter service prices. There’s still a gap, but it has definitely closed–and that’s even with Disney increasing prices pretty aggressively for a number of years.

Given that Walt Disney World has a captive audience and a random Panera or Chipotle in a strip mall do not–and actually have competition hundreds of yards away–I have to admit that I’m slightly pleased that prices at Walt Disney World counter service restaurants haven’t gotten even more out of control. If you told me the aggregate rate of inflation and asked me to guess what entree prices would be as of October 2024 back in 2019, I probably would’ve picked higher numbers.

Finally, we will once again reiterate our recommendation of having groceries delivered to Walt Disney World resorts at a reasonable cost. That’s one way to avoid at least part of this price increase by doing breakfast in your room, having your own bottled beverages or coffee, and bringing snacks to the parks. As I’ve “bragged” elsewhere, I haven’t paid for caffeine at Walt Disney World in a long, long time. You’ll still get hit by some of these price increases, but the amount you save should more than offset that increase.

On the spectrum of things that are significant or important to a Walt Disney World vacation, pretty much anything sold at outdoor vending carts is on the super low end. These aren’t iconic meals, snacks, desserts, or specialty beverages that only Disney does. That’s even true of churros and Mickey-shaped novelty snacks, all of which have comparable counterparts at Costco. Pack your own snacks and allocate your dining budget towards food that’s actually unique and delicious. Price increases are always annoying and never welcome, but these food & beverage ones are probably the “least offensive” of the bunch by Walt Disney World. If you’re budgeting $75 per day for smartwater, maybe you’re actually a dummy.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of these and other recent price increases at Walt Disney World? Think this is a natural consequence of inflation, 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!