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!
The blessing and the curse of food pricing is that no one thinks about it until they’re there. Because of that, I think those costs tend to linger in memory more than anything else. People expect admission and hotels to be expensive, but in my experience the food prices come across as a slap in the face.
When we went to WDW as a family in 2014, no one gave any thought to food costs. But then our first meal was at Jiko, and my Grandfather, always one to reach for the check to pay for the family’s meal, was floored that dinner for 7 people came out to over $700. The other meals were less expensive, but my grandparents have never forgotten that final bill. Was it a fantastic meal? Yes. Was it priced fairly? Maybe, maybe not. But every comment from the grandparents about how much they enjoyed the rest of WDW is tempered with complaints about their food pricing.
I visited WDW last year with a friend that has joined me on trips to five of the six Disney theme park resorts around the world. He too was floored with food prices, and he was no stranger to paying Disney huge sums of money by that time. Of course, WDW is not the only Disney resort to have this problem, but to me it is definitely the most egregious example, and I think my friend would agree.
I really think that this is the area that will do them in perception-wise. Arguments of “Six Flags does the same thing” or “at least the food is better” really don’t hold water IMO because WDW in general is so much more of an expense, and WDW has traditionally had a different image, and had a reputation of seeking the higher ground. With the attendance struggles of the past few years, is it already too late? Is the idea of a WDW vacation already dismissed as overpriced and undervalued by large portions of consumers? It’s going to be an interesting couple of years coming up, IMO.
Attendance struggles? What are you smoking? The struggle has been printing enough tickets for the hundreds of thousands of daily visitors…
Attendance in expected peak times has been low.
It was only really the spring break and January period this year that met or exceeded attendance expectations. Since May, crowd levels have been lower than expected or even typical.
I feel like that’s been pretty thoroughly covered here and on other sites.
No need to be rude to the guy who gave a pretty detailed comment.
Sorry Phillip, that was meant to be more sarcastic than rude but I know written comments sometimes don’t emote well! While i’ve seen a few people claim low attendance, there have been very few reports from people in the parks that any days are even slow at all and every time we’ve been there in recent years it’s been absurdly packed. Right when school started this year was a great time to be there, apparently.
Attendance softness is a recent development within the last couple of months. This summer was ‘slow’ but that has become the “new normal” for summer, so I don’t put much stock into that.
We are here right now, and the crowds have been wildly inconsistent; I’d surmise that stems from party nights and special events displacing Magic Kingdom crowds.
Overall, during normal days, I’d say it has been low to moderate by “new normal” October standards. The resorts are perhaps the bigger story, as many have felt very quiet.
I think it’s still too early to tell whether this is an actual trend, or just a mild lull during storm season and/or the lead-up to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Tom, we fly down from San Antonio on Monday. I hope the crowds are soft all week!
Interesting point about the food. We don’t do the dining plan, as we have no qualms about having leftovers the next day. The Six Flags comparison is interesting, because we live near one. We have season tickets, and last year sprung for the yearly dining plan for my wife and kid (my work hours are unpredictable enough that they go more than I do), so we don’t really notice the price for meals, but I will say, the portions are pretty big at Six Flags. The wife and I split a meal, and usually get the “dinner” meal to go, and use it either for work the next day, or a meal at home.
‘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.’
Never a truer word spoken.
Yeah, I agree these are relatively little changes, but I don’t see those costs being passed on to the park employees, nor do I see Disney doing anything really tremendously innovative that isn’t being covered by increased tuition and tourism dollars. This feels like inflation because they can get away with it.
I’m with you- I pay for convenience but only to a point. I’ll make my own coffee, and build in time to pack my own snacks and lunches. That being said- when it starts being work to go on vacation…maybe it is time to vacation somewhere else.
Tom,
I have asked this before when you talk about bringing your own coffee sticks, but you have never answered.
Where do you get the hot water? Do you buy it?
I used to bring coffee sticks until they quit giving out hot water. I am always told I must buy hot tea (cup of hot water and tea bag) to get hot water. Please clue me in on where I can get it.
Thanks.
Hi! I went to Disney last in January 2017 and never had a problem going to the Starbucks and requesting a hot water for free. Now, my Mom was ordering coffee for herself so maybe that made a difference. I don’t know, but I do know we did not pay for my hot water so that I could make my own tea.
Everyone knows Disney is expensive. (Go ahead-“you think captain obvious”)?!
But, the thing I find most discouraging with the prices in the past and certainly these newer significant price jumps, is the complete inability for low wage/entry level wage earners to be able to enjoy a Disney vacation.
There is so much in the news regarding companies, Disney being one of the worst offenders, at not paying a living wage. (And, I do not want to hear the argument people can better themselves to earn more etc.). You have to have the resources and support to better your station in life. Someone to watch your kids when you try to go to school, the ability to pay for costly educations, etc. etc.
If someone is earning even $10 or $12 dollars an hour (forget minimum wage), they have to work close to an hour after taxes to buy just one of those mickey pretzels and I find that sad.
I have been blessed with a good education obtained with family support and hard work and I am happy to be able to take my family on these wonderful vacations.
I guess as a Disney stock holder I should be happy with all of these extra $1’s, but it is not necessary in this already very successful company, and the avarice I see from Disney is so disheartening.
How much money is enough?
Comment of the year – anywhere.
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
My family and I are incredibly lucky that while we are not zillionaires, money is not really an issue for us.
But my exact thought was – where does this stop now? You can raise the price of a bottled drink by a whole dollar, know that there is nothing people can do about it and will pay it anyway, but what are you doing with that dollar?
It stops when attendance starts to decline. Disney is a business, they are only concerned with the bottom line. Perhaps not only, but certainly mostly. People can complain and whine about price increases online all they want, as long as they still go to the parks Disney can happily ignore that and just look the other way. It does suck that they have priced out a large portion of the population, but you can probably say the same about a lot of vacations. A lot of people cant afford to go to Hawaii or Europe either.
I’ve said for a number of years that we would gladly pay double the ticket prices if crowds were half, but that’s not going to happen. They could triple ticket prices and the would hardly be a dip in attendance, and then that would soon even out. I too am tired of the constant nickel and dime routine, but next week will be our second week long trp this year…
We went to the Halloween party a couple weeks ago. But First we want to Mcdonalds to fill up our three kids. They were thrilled and actually had a view of the gate which made it very fun. Families get creative and this works for us now. This McDonald’s trip saved us a ton of money:)
I live in Manhattan, where bottled water is expensive when you purchase it out on the street from a newsstand or bodega. It can range from $2 to $2.75 a bottle – getting a bottle for less than $2 is considered a pretty good deal. I recognize that Disney prices will be higher for everything – I call it the “Magic Premium,” but things start to add up. When Walt Disney World starts to markedly outprice New York City, it’s a pretty big red flag. $3.50 a bottle is almost extortion for a bottle of Dasani water. I feel the same way about Food & Wine Festival marketplace booth pricing – if I can get a better deal on excellent, high-quality food in NYC, Disney prices are getting ludicrous. I’d rather save my dollars for another trip to Tokyo Disney.
When looking at these prices what bothers me more than anything else is the price for bottled water. Granted, you can plan ahead and bring your own filtered water bottle, but not everyone does. For a place that is often insanely hot, and caters to families…to charge 3.50 for something that’s just not very expensive is really lame. I know, yadda yadda yadda it’s a business…but to gouge people on a bottle of water when you have thousands of other revenue streams is not encouraging. And yes, we still have trips planned and no this won’t change that…so I guess they win.
You can get free cups of water from any quick service restaurant, we do that all the time. I do wish they would put in those nice water bottle filling dispensers (like they have in a lot of airports, even our small local library has one!) at some of the water fountains.
I carry the same bottle all week at WDW and always have. I just refill it at the drinking fountains or bathroom sinks. Most people won’t though because Florida water sucks! It smells & tastes funky but I can’t stand the taste of most bottled water either so it averages out for me. As bad as Florida water tastes, Dasani is worse.
It’s funny, on a trip about 12 years ago my aunt & I drove over to AK Lodge for supper at Boma and I just got tap water like I always do. She got a beer then switched to Diet Coke because she won’t drink the water down there. About halfway thru her soda she commented that it tasted kind of funny and I responded that her ice cubes were melting and they were probably made with the nasty Florida water.
Have the snacks eligible for use of dining plan snack credits changed at all? I’m arriving at WDW in just two weeks and I’ve already done a bunch of my snack planning. I’d hate to get to the front of the line and find that little purple icon missing from a treat that it previously adorned.
In general I am starting to get priced out of these trips. I’m already planning something different for the coming year and I’m pretty excited about it.
These price increases do not bother me since I use grocery delivery for snacks and drinks. I rarely purchase snacks or drinks at WDW except for the occasional Dole Whip, Citrus Swirl, or Ice Cream.
You left out the biggest price increase shock of all! The “every-trip” churro went up $1.75!!! Ouch! No more churros at WDW, we’ll stick to Costco for $1 total.
Damn that is a big percentage jump. I don’t usually get those mine is the funnel cakes can’t wait to see that jump
And apparently they’ve increased the prices on items at Food & Wine in the middle of the festival! This doesn’t seem like a well planned and rolled out increase, but rather a quickly implemented way to bump up income before a new fiscal quarter begins. At $.50 per Coke, God only knows what that works out to considering the volume they must sell. All at no additional cost to Disney beyond printing new menus, which happens regularly anyway.
Totally agree with the hikes causing second thoughts. We’re currently planning our first ever trip to Disney World. We’re avid Disney fans and have been to Disneyland in both California and Tokyo a number of times.
We were prepared for it to be expensive, especially as we’re coming from outside the US, and we’re bugeting around that concept but to have all these price rises in just the short time we’ve been planning, with nearly a year to go until our trip has certainly taken the shine off. It’s not that they’ll make such a difference that we can’t afford to go, it’s that they’re creating a such a negative impression that we may choose to spend our money somewhere easier to travel to. A couple more price rises and we will most likely scrap our trip.
You may be correct that a $1 increase in snacks won’t be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, but this looks a lot worse when you look at the cost of things just 3 years ago. In 2015, a Mickey pretzel cost $3.79. That’s an 84% increase in 3 years! If only my paycheck grew like that.
For those of us that in the past that went to Walt Disney World it has become part of the “Disney” experience to expect price increases on every part of a Disney vacation. First it was going every other year, followed by spending part of the time at Universal and other amusement venues, no longer staying on property and now arranging for snacks to be delivered.
I can bet the next announcement will be that on-property hotels will no longer accept deliveries followed closely by, considering that the capability is already in place with security checkpoints, to no longer allow outside food or drinks into the parks (it will happen and very soon, probably before Star Wars opens). Ten years from now a popular MBS thesis topic will be how the current management mindset killed the golden goose.
They started charging a fee a few years ago to receive deliveries at the resorts, which is somewhat justified. But they can’t tell you that no outside food or drink are allowed because of ADA requirements. We’ll all suddenly have medical reasons to bring our own food in. I’m sure my doctor will write me a note for Five Hour Energy shots…
Raising snack prices may not cause anyone to cancel a trip, but the constant “minor” prices increases in room rates, park admission, food and drink, etc. may certainly influence the length of a trip.
I stayed at Port Orleans for three nights in August – we had originally planned to stay four nights, but as we added up all the incidentals we decided three nights was all that was affordable at the time.
Disney may have gotten 15% percent more revenue from us than a year previously, but they lost a whole additional day’s revenue in the bargain.
I agree with your comment. I have an upcoming trip and have begun to make minor changes to my plans based on recent increases. I still enjoy vacationing at Disneyworld, but I have to consider more carefully details that I used to give little thought to, such as staying on property and purchasing food in the park. (No more soft drinks for me this vacation. $3.99 is my breaking point.)
I think you commentary is spot on.
With last week’s news about the upcoming change in ticket pricing, I made the decision that my upcoming December visit will likely be my last. It was the accumulation of feeling nickel and dimed to the point that this obsessive travel planner was actually no longer enjoying the organisation of my upcoming visit but rather feeling a bit annoyed by it. This news of yet another price hike just cements these feelings.
Even booking cheaper table service restaurants (of which there are now few) and trying not to get too tempted by the multitude of paid extras (that’s been the most frustrating bit), just three days at Disney is costing me more than a whole week in other areas of my vacation. The value is getting harder and harder to see and hence the ‘magic’ is diminishing.
I come from the other side of the world and have a dollar that is currently quite weak compared to the US. So yes, you are also correct in saying that the state of an economy also plays a part in perceived value.
A little beyond the scope of the post but table service prices have soared over the last few years. We started being regular WDW travelers in 2012. I was surprised at the time by how LOW the prices were compared to what I’d been set up to anticipate. They might have seemed high for middle America but for us big city/east coast people, the prices were average for any restaurant we’d eat at in the real world.
The prices have gone way beyond average DC restaurant prices since then. My wife is urging us to limit it to one table service meal per trip but I’m not quite ready to cave in, even with the way each meal empties our wallets…
I’d be fine with the price increases if it meant an improved product. But scaling back on live entertainment, reducing capacity on attractions…it’s all very discouraging.
I absolutely agree. I’ve been going to DisneyWorld for over 20 years and I feel I’ve been priced out of most of the “better” restaurants. I’ve eaten at The California Grill, Citrico’s, Artist’s Point etc., in the past, but no more.
So what you are saying is… get the refillable mug because it is an even BETTER deal now? Say no more. I’ll take two!
Just don’t touch my Dole Whip!
Dole whip and dole whip float prices increased by $.50 each to $4.99 and $5.99 respectively.
Noooo! How can they live with themselves?!? Of all the lousy ways to make a buck… ;c)