Price Increase on Snacks & Drinks at Disney World
Walt Disney World has once again raised food prices across the hotels and parks, with some significant increases at outdoor vending carts and on counter service menus for beverages and popular snacks. In this post, we’ll share the new prices, and add our commentary as to whether we view these price trends as sustainable in the long term.
Here’s a partial rundown of the price increases:
- Regular soda: $3.99 – up from $3.29
- Large soda: $4.49 – up from $3.49
- Coffee: $3.29 – up from $2.79
- Orange Juice: $4.99 – up from $4.29
- Bottled soda: $4.50 – up from $4
- Bottled water: $3.50 – up from $3
- Powerade: $4.50 – up from $3.50
- Mickey Pretzel: $7 – up from $6
- Mickey Ice Cream: $5.75 – up from $5
Some people are bound to defend these price hikes with retorts like, “if $1 more for a pretzel is make or break, you shouldn’t be vacationing at Walt Disney World in the first place.” To be sure, it’s highly unlikely that any of these price increases will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of vacation affordability. Presumably, Walt Disney World is counting on that.
Where these price increases, and the barrage of across the board hikes, do the most damage is in terms of perception. No one is going to cancel their vacation upon reading this news, and it’s certainly not going to make headlines on the nightly news or in the mainstream media (as has been the case with ticket pricing and parking charges).
For regular guests, this news is just the latest in a long line of stories about Walt Disney World nickel and diming guests. It’s unlikely to be what turns them off of a WDW vacation, but the cumulative impact of this type of news could do exactly that.
Even among first-timers and infrequent guests, this image seems more pronounced. There’s always been the running joke that every ride exits through the gift shop, but lately there’s been an odd proliferation of guests wearing homemade (or Etsy-made) shirts emblazoned with phrases like “Disney ATM,” “Most Expensive Day EVER!” and lines about working to support Disney addictions.
The notion that there’s no such thing as bad publicity doesn’t apply here, but Disney has no one else to blame for the burgeoning market for this apparel. (Now the question is whether Disney will make its own shirts like these–does profitability or dignity will win out?)
This is all fun and games now. While we’re not huge fans of shirts like that, we realize they are worn in jest. However, the underlying sentiment rings true, and that is something the general public will remember in earnest once the economy goes south.
When you couple the acute awareness of Walt Disney World’s priciness with regulars who are growing increasingly frustrated with the blatant cash grabs, there’s the potential for real issues. We sound like a broken record harping on the impact of consumer confidence on travel and tourism, but it is a big deal.
People are willing to laugh off the expensive nature of a Walt Disney World vacation right now as they are confident about their economic prospects, but what happens when confidence in the economy is not so high? The U.S. economy has been growing for a while now, and it’s hard to imagine that we aren’t at or near the late cycle phase. That doesn’t necessarily mean another recession is right around the corner, but a slowdown likely is.
When that inevitably occurs, some people will have second thoughts about booking a Walt Disney World vacation. Not everyone, but it doesn’t take everyone for there to be a big impact on hotel occupancy and attendance. Even 10-15% of people hesitating due to perceptions of pricing is a huge deal.
Of course, Walt Disney World benefits in the short term from people who purchase snacks on impulse and those who need their Coca-Cola fix. In the immediate future, it seems unlikely that the loss of sales from people balking at the increased prices outweighs the added revenue from the price differential.
There’s also the added byproduct of the value perception of the Disney Dining Plan improving. This could lead to more purchases of the Dining Plan from people who do the math, or simply peruse online menus and are taken aback by high out of pocket snack and drink costs.
As for us, none of this will affect us in the least. The last time I purchased a large soda at Walt Disney World, it was $3.29 (so, two years ago). I remember that because I flinched at that price, and realized it was an unnecessary expense. Even before then, we had mostly switched to using these Mount Hagen Organic Instant Regular Coffee sticks. The last time I purchased large sodas with regularity, it was the good ole days (~4 years ago, I believe) when they cost $2.79.
We sometimes get odd looks as we mix up our own coffee, but as caffeine addicts, we “need” our fix. (It’s not even close to the weirdest thing we do in the name of blogging.) There’s no way we’re spending ~$60 on a week’s worth of caffeine at Walt Disney World. In that sense, Disney has saved us money, because if prices were still in the realm of reasonable, we wouldn’t be doing this. (On a related note: we highly recommend grocery delivery–read our tips for having groceries delivered to your Walt Disney World resort at a reasonable cost.)
To be sure, this price increase, as with all past price increases, is a calculated decision with clear advantages for Walt Disney World. However, those advantages lie entirely in the short term. As with a lot of moves Disney has made in the last couple of years, there are also potential negative repercussions in the long-term. We’ve been sounding this same alarm bell for over two years now, so at this point you might be inclined to disregard our commentary, but it will happen at some point. It may not happen in the near-term with Walt Disney World’s golden goose set to debut in a little over a year, but we maintain that this is not a viable long-term strategy for a vacation destination that still largely caters to the middle class.
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? No big deal for you, or a reason for concern as you plan where to take future vacations? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Think there will be long-term consequences for Disney 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!
I usually come alone but this year may bring my grandson so I am surprised that there appear to be no child sizes, or indications of what price they may be.
I don’t drink soda so it doesn’t concern me one bit – but in general I have found over the last few years prices really have gone through the roof. Coming from Canada we also have to pay so much more – exchange on the US dollar being so high.
I have already made the decision to not visit Disneyworld this year. I did not renew my annual pass. I am not happy with the nickel and dime (read $5 & $10) price raising. I don’t want to pay to park, only to share a bus with those who parked at Disney Springs, then used the bus system to a resort then a park just to avoid the parking charge. I am more annoyed by the in park ‘extras’ that allow more affluent guest to have better parade, fireworks, etc. viewing areas at the expense of the regular guests. I drive to Disneyworld alone from Canada, and now feel like it’s not worth the effort. I am starting to look at universal…comparing the pricing…but I am go to miss the mouse house
FWIW,
These price increases are directly related to the increased wages for CMs. Previous raises have been minor in nature, this time CM’s got back pay for a year that averaged $1000 per CM ($74 million) and an immediate raise of $.50 per hour (another $74 million over the year) plus $1 an hour in December ($148 million). That’s almost $300 million in new labor costs in just a few months. There will be another $148 million added in March 2019, so we’re approaching a half-billion dollars. There is no way shareholders will sit by for that so Disney has to make the revenue for it somewhere. It is wishful thinking to believe these increases have nothing to do with the wage increases.
Yesterday, Amazon announced wage increases to a minimum $15 company-wide November 1. Watch what happens to the price of your Amazon items, Prime Membership, and delivery fees once that kicks in.
I’m not opposed to higher prices or wages for CMs as the cost of living here in Orlando has exploded. Also, a visit to WDW is a luxury, not a right. It is still less expensive than many other entertainment options. Last year, I went to see Paul McCartney in Tampa and the tix were $100 each for a two-hour show, $35 for parking, $8 for a coke, and $12 for nachos. The obligatory souvenir T-shirt was $40. Even Disney hasn’t gotten to $40 for T-shirts. The point is, we spent almost $350 for a two-hour concert. That $350 would have bought me a full day at Disney, two counter service meals and two sit down meals, and maybe a souvenir.
Don’t get me wrong…Disney isn’t cheap. But it also isn’t as expensive as many other entertainment options today. Even Disney doesn’t have the audacity to charge $17 for popcorn and soda like AMC does!
Brent
In that case, I’d be curious why snack and beverage prices increased around this time last year or the previous April? Or why ticket prices increase annually in February? And so on and so forth.
Walt Disney World strives to maximize per guest spending and decrease operating costs. In furtherance of that goal, Disney charges what it believes the market will bear, attempting to increase prices and decrease costs wherever possible and whenever advantageous. If Disney could simply raise prices irrespective of market forces, they already would’ve raised prices to the maximum amount possible. Walt Disney World doesn’t use a cost-based pricing model. (With that said, I’m much more receptive to your suggestion that Amazon will increase prices due to raising wages; there arguably is a causal relationship there.)
I don’t believe for a second this price increase would *not* have occurred but for that pay raise. The labor market is tightening and Disney has received some negative PR about Cast Member wages, hence the pay bump.
Tom,
Prices go up every year, that pattern is essentially unbroken and not in doubt.
The question is, in the absence of the company having to put out several hundred million dollars in increasing wage and payroll tax costs annually, just at Disney World alone, which directly hit the bottom line, what would the increases have been otherwise? The same? Less? We cannot know that.
There is no way for anyone that does not have access to confidential Disney corporate financial models to know that.
Also, I would hazard a guess that Disney has known for at least a couple of years, that they were going to have to raise minimum wages to $15 per hour, given the general dynamics of the business world these days and to be competitive in a tight labor market. The writing has been on the wall for some time that minimum wages were going to need to increase materially and companies having been slowly doing so.
More than likely, at some level, recent prior year price increases anticipated and reflected that reality. So the current price increases are not likely in isolation relative to increasing labor/payroll costs.
As Brent noted above, anyone that is a shareholder, large or small and whether those shares are owned directly, or indirectly via an equity based requirement fund, wants to see the value of their equity based holdings increase.
Disney has to maintain a record of improving revenue and profitability for that to happen and they cannot just absorb hundreds of millions of dollars in new operating expenses in the course of doing so.
This is not an argument against the wage increases, which I fully support. But if the current trend across various service based industries is to provide living wages to all employees at the low end of the wage scale, which I also fully support, then we as consumers are going to bear the increasing costs that will result.
That’s crazy. Someone else mentioned an $8 soda. What theaters are these? They usually have only the much inferior coca cola products, so I bring a can of Pepsi or RC with me. I usually take a bottled cola into the park with me in the morning and try not to get another from the carts all day. But beer…
Another said they could go the Europe cheaper, which I highly doubt, at least from these USA. Just airfare will eat your lunch.
Someone else said they waste half the day at the pool before going to the parks. Now that’s crazy. I know little girls especially like to swim, but seriously…
As for them trying to ban outside food and drink, it’s never going to happen. ADA rules alone will prevent that. We’ll all suddenly have medical needs for whatever snacks we carry. See my movie theater comment above.
Nick, I’m the one who spends half a day at the pool. And there is a very good reason for that. We have no children with us, we’re in our sixties and seventies and we all have medical issues. Even on the trips with small children, we spend hours at the pool. The kids loved it.
Many years ago, we purchased multi-day park hopper passes with no expiration, sort of like an investment. Who knew then they’d have such value today. Not us, that’s for sure.
Not every Disney guest fits in a tiny little box. Some of us actually have to think outside of it if we’re to continue doing the trips we so enjoy.
Hey Barbara, that’s the great thing, there’s are so many options! I like having drinks at a pool, but we just go next door here at home for that. My meager vacation time is far too valuable for that. Maybe if I was retired… But even as an annual passholder, it kills me to leave a park early or think of missing any open park hours to take a break. My crazy nieces, of course, are more interested in swimming. Me, not so much. Some people play golf or miniature golf as well, it’s just not for me when I’m there. But like I said, lots of options!
It won’t stop first timers, or those that are affluent enough to afford multiple trips without much thought, but I see these continual price hikes really affecting return trips from everyday folks. When one factors in the up front cost to book a trip, and the amount of work that goes into just planning a Disney trip in the first place, the expectation is extremely high for first timers. After completing the trip, and taking a look at how much extra money was spent on parking, snacks, drinks, food, souvenirs, etc….. the will be a lot reflection on whether it was all worth it in the end. For many, they will decide it wasn’t worth it.
50 cents to $1 might not seem like a lot but its about a 15-25% increase in costs. That’s a pretty significant increase, especially if quick service and restaurants are next to follow suit. I booked a Dec 2018 bounceback but very well may cancel it next year.
At this point, I basically just sigh and wonder what will go up next. It seems like Disney is responding to lower profits from a soft summer and reduced hotel occupancy by looking for other ways to grab profits. The danger is compounding the problem and just reinforcing what may have caused the quieter summer in the first place. Yes, people are waiting for Galaxy’s Edge, but that isn’t everyone. The sentiment that Disney is not a value travels through word of mouth. Disney may not realize the issue until it’s too late, or if the economy tanks like you mention. It’s a really bad look.
It’s not just the value component either. A Disney vacation is getting entirely way too complex to plan for folks that never have been or rarely go. I had neighbors that really wanted to go. They were choosing between it and Europe, but figured they could do Europe anytime as the kids got older. After weeks of going through the process of a Disney vacation (even with my help) they finally gave up. It was just too overwhelming for them and they chose to cancel and go to Europe. Cheaper, and an overall better value for them in terms of vacation experience and different cultural experiences for their children.
“The danger is compounding the problem and just reinforcing what may have caused the quieter summer in the first place. Yes, people are waiting for Galaxy’s Edge, but that isn’t everyone.”
Totally agreed. Disney runs the danger here of further exacerbating the problem in the long (or even mid) term with these short-term bandaids to slightly lower profits.
I really don’t even think it takes the economy ‘tanking.’ A reversion to the mean would be enough to do some serious damage.
Tom,
I don’t see any mention that it is reasonable to consider that at least some of the motivation for recent increases in F&B prices, ticket prices and hotel rates, will be to cover the increased expenses associated with the CM minimum wage increasing by 50% over the next 3 years from $10 to $15 per hour.
The CM’s absolutely deserve a living wage, but it would be unreasonable to expect Disney to just absorb, what is likely to be several hundred million dollars in increased expenses, between the actually wage increases themselves and the federal payroll tax increases that will come along with them.
My response to another comment about wages further down:
“Agreed on assertions about wages impacting pricing being unpersuasive. Walt Disney World long ago stopped basing its pricing around its costs. It might be a convenient scapegoat for some people who oppose Cast Members earning a decent living, but there’s no basis in reality for the argument.”
I’ll need to make a T-Shirt that Says:
“I Can Show You The World…
(As Long As You Give Us Your Credit Card)”
I see more grocery deliveries and suitcases devoted to snacks and breakfast food in the future.
These prices are no worse and are finally catching what professional sports stadiums have been charging for years.
No one is a captive audience at a professional sports stadium, nor do people take weeklong trips to them. It’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
True, but when discussing the simple value for what you are getting, none of it makes sense. Been to a movie lately and bought an $8 large fountain soda? Disney assumes much more value from the experiences they are giving. It will reach a breaking point for sure.
It’s a lot easier to skip a meal when you’re spending 2-3 hours at a professional sports stadium. Doing so for a week is something else entirely. Also, why put up greedy sports franchises as the model? That isn’t what any customer-focused company should be trying to match.
I would disagree and say sports franchises are very customer focused yet people still go. It’s another “business” that over inflates pricing because the “fans” allow it whether it’s sports or Disney. I’m simply discussing things from a value perspective. Disney is always the target of being greedy or money grabbing but a pair of Super Bowl Tickets will cover a week long vacation with travel/food for a family of four at Disney. What represents good value will vary for each individual. Some may consider memories at Disney priceless versus a three hour championship football game. As stated above, I believe a breaking point will be reached either way from the up charges.
We’ll be at Disney in a few weeks (Coronado Springs. What better way to get a construction update). Already in my Amazon Prime cart is two cases of water ($5.50/case, 24 bottles. Do the math), two eight packs of Coke ($5/pack) and snacks. We’ll have breakfast at the food court and usually quick service for dinner. Purchasing the refillable Halloween mugs because we spend half a day at the pool before heading out to the parks. Also because they’re too cute to pass up (use them at home every day, so practical too). Also on my shopping list is the Mine Train Mug. They are really cute and our mug supply at home is running low.
All in all, still less expensive than paying Disney prices for beverages and snacks. This is our second trip this year. In order to do that, we have to budget wisely. And as always with Disney, it’s necessary to plan ahead.
Really fed up with the price increases. The parking charge has us staying off-site much more. We are AP’ers and will probably not renew next year. Tired of the prices and greed. If you are going to charge $15 for a burger, at least let it taste like a $15 burger. People should start figuring out what it costs per ride. I bet that would put some questions in people’s minds. $120 admission for 8 rides = $15/per ride. Was standing line for an hour at Peter Pan worth that? Thinking of making a T-shirt that says “How much did you pay per ride today?” Might be banned from entering the park.
“The parking charge has us staying off-site much more.”
Although not specifically mentioned here, I think the parking fee has had the biggest impact out of any increases/changes this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney was taken aback by the strong negative response to that (I was). I’m sure they expected some backlash, but there was a huge and vocal reaction–and many people like you who ‘voted with their wallets’ as a result.
Disney World never has been and never will be about just the rides. WDW is about the EXPERIENCE. If all you’re doing is rides, you’re doing it wrong.
That being said, you just proved Tom’s point about the overall goodwill of fans going down the drain with all the pricing increases just because they can… when people stop seeing the experience as valuable and start thinking only about the rides, Disney loses.
For me it isn’t really surprising that they are jacking up the price. They are building new attractions, a star wars resort and more. They have to get the money to pay for that from somewhere. Every business that is planning on growing or adding something new always jack up the price on things that people buy the most. So the next time the price goes up remember what all they are adding and fixing. You may think that hey they got a lot of people going to Disney they shouldn’t have the jack up the price. Well what you are paying now is paying to keep the place running.
The Star Wars Resort will generate direct revenue via bookings, and the new lands will spike attendance generating indirect revenue.
The increases now are to make quarterly results look better year over year. Consistency is no longer sufficient–financials have to beat previous quarters, and that’s done by increasing per guest spending and decreasing operating expenses.
Right. Wall street expectations are profit growth faster than the overall economy. I’m not sure how that is sustainable for a theme park.
They just spend about 50 billion buying up parts of Fox. That has to be paid for, and we’re some of the ones paying for it. The increase in employee wages isn’t even a rounding error compared to this expense.
We were just at WDW for an 8 day vacation in June (2017). Based on principle, we did not snack or get sodas while there. For fun, we took some pics of cupcakes and such in the glass cases to share online with friends… but we did not purchase. We prefer table service restaurants and did eat quite well while in the parks, but when it comes to all the “little temptations” snacks, we just didn’t bother this year. We drank a lot of free water and seriously, if any of us were true soda fiends, we would have brought our own.
Bottom line is that we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and do not look back wishing we had bought those insanely priced cupcakes, sodas or pretzels. No regrets.
I am sure people will no doubt blame the wage increases and that would be fine if Disney had not been raising the price of everything else exponentially for years. Greed and economic arguments aside these price increases make the Disney Dining Plan look better now that it includes 2 snacks per day. With these increases it would be nice to see an option similar to multi-day tickets with park hopper and more magic options added to the DDP where you could add a snack per person per day or a block of snacks to your meal plan.
Agreed on assertions about wages impacting pricing being unpersuasive. Walt Disney World long ago stopped basing its pricing around its costs. It might be a convenient scapegoat for some people who oppose Cast Members earning a decent living, but there’s no basis in reality for the argument.
Let’s assume that the cast member at the cart has just received a pay increase from $12 to $15.
At a 50 cent price increase of what they’re selling, if they sell about 7-10 (I’m an accountant, I know that employee costs are more than than their hourly wage) items they’ve offset their price increase. I kind of suspect that any cart not selling far more than 7-10 items per hour is going to be closed down. The pay raise is just an excuse for the price increases, which would be far less if they were merely trying to offset the wage increases.
I wonder if there would be a point in the future where Disney decided they would not allow any outside food in the parks in order to push people toward the over-priced snacks? That could very well be a breaking-point for me.
I’m honestly a bit surprised they haven’t done that already. There must be some reason why they still allow outside food and drinks, but I have no idea what it is. Seems pretty inconsistent with other moves they’ve made of late.
I’m not sure they could actually stop people from bringing their own food in but they could make it very difficult for you to find a place to eat it if it’s a non-Disney food item.
I will say one thing, if they keep jacking up the cost of snacks and drinks it makes the After Hours party seem a little more reasonable to me. Free water and ice cream adds up quickly at $5 per. Take a few extra waters back to your hotel room with you and you could end up covering half of that $100 cost of the party in free snacks and drinks.
While I get the sentiment, I think air quotes should go around “free.” Those snacks are built into the cost of the event.
People use the same logic with free candy at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and how much sweet treats would otherwise cost in the parks, but at the end of the day, it’s still only like $3-4 worth of candy.
As grocery delivery and Amazon Prime Now are pretty easy to use at Walt Disney World, there’s no way the real world value of those snacks and drinks is $50.
Understood and agreed. I am doing the party because I can and would like the 3 hours of an empty park to have a good time in. But getting the best value out of the “free” snacks makes it a little more palatable in my mind.
That is pretty much exactly what I said to my husband. We’ll be glad for the free snacks at the party we were already going to after the price increases.
That is pretty much exactly what I said to my husband. We’ll be glad for the free snacks at the party we were already going to after the price increases.
I think I’m very glad we signed up and bought the Disney Dining Plan more than ever now! We’re doing quite a few character meals with our 9 year old granddaughter that has never been to Disney World and able to book the Royal Castle!! So excited! I was debating with all the debate on the Dining Plan if I made the right decision buying the plan, but now that tipped it over the edge. I know we did the right thing. That could be what Disney is hoping for. More people buying the Disney Dining Plan. (?). Whatever works in our best interest is what we’lll do and I love the fact I don’t have to watch the price of meals or how much we’re spending. It’s already paid for buy the time we get there.
“That could be what Disney is hoping for. More people buying the Disney Dining Plan. (?).”
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this is part of the calculus.
They should raise nasty coffee price to ten dollars each. And sell Pepsi instead of coke. But we’ll get by. The worst part is that food and beer costs more at Six Flags than at WDW, and there’s zero quality! Did Disney raise beer prices? Guess I’ll find out next week!
Nasty coffee? Really? Many coffee drinkers drink coffee, not for their own convenience but for YOUR safety. 😉
ALL coffee is nasty, yes. It stinks…
Frankly, it is a concern for me. I remember talking to a friend ~6 years ago who did not want to vacation at WDW due to the expense (they vacationed in Jamaica instead) and I defended the costs of Disney relative to other vacations. I can’t do that any more. All entertainment costs have outstripped inflation over the past 6 years, but not at the 5x rate that Disney has.
It hasn’t affected our propensity to visit Disney (yet, but it’s getting close), but it has affected our eating/snacking habits. We do far less. It’s a shame, because the cute WDW snacks are part of the overall experience for us (which is probably what Disney is banking on). But I cannot justify a $7 pretzel or even a $5.75 Mickey bar.
“It’s a shame, because the cute WDW snacks are part of the overall experience for us (which is probably what Disney is banking on).”
Agreed all around, but especially with this.