Prices Increased on Hundreds of Food Items at Disney World
Walt Disney World has kicked off 2022 in style, increasing prices on tons of food items around the parks, resorts, and Disney Springs. These include pretzels, popcorn, burgers, hot dogs, bottled beverages, Dole Whips, Mickey Mouse ice cream, beer, cocktails, and more. This post shares a sampling of the price jumps, plus our commentary about why this is happening and whether these price trends are sustainable in the long term.
Unlike past price bumps that impact outdoor vending carts or counter service spots or table service restaurants or bars, these are fairly widespread–everywhere from the kiosks at Typhoon Lagoon to the drink menu at California Grill has been impacted. In fact, hundreds in the headline is no exaggeration–if anything, it’s underselling the scope and scale of this increase.
There’s a strong possibility that over 1,000 menu items have had their prices increased as of January 2022. Unfortunately, there’s no comprehensive way of tracking the before and after of every single menu, so we’re not quite sure. However, virtually every menu I’ve checked has been impacted–this is the most sweeping food price increase in the last couple of years.
Some items at outdoor vending carts only increased by $.25 to $.50. Others increased by more, with Dole Whips up by $1 and many alcoholic beverages doing the same. Many appetizers and entrees at table service restaurants are up by $2 to $3, with burgers and other meats at counter service restaurants up by $.50 to $1.
If you’re visiting Walt Disney World soon, plan to increase your dining budget by about $1 per item. While some things didn’t increase at all and others are only up by $.25, that’s still about the average when you factor in the many entrees that jumped by $2 or $3.
This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Anyone who has stepped foot in a grocery store in the last several months knows that the cost of food is increasing. The cost of meat, poultry, fish, and eggs in particular has all skyrocketed. The USDA tracks a breakdown by food type in its Food Price Outlook page (towards the bottom there’s a spreadsheet with percentage changes over the last 3 years).
Per Bloomberg consensus data forecasting, consumer prices likely surged by 7.1% in December. That’s up even further from November’s 6.8% year-over-year rate, which had been the fastest pace in 39 years–since June 1982.
It should go without saying, but businesses attempt to pass higher costs on to consumers. This is clearly what’s happening at grocery stores, and explains the entirety of higher “food at home” prices on the CPI. However, you might notice that “food away from home” has not increased in lockstep with its grocery store counterpart. Whereas the latter is up by 6.4%, the former is up by 5.8%. This is despite higher labor costs and the industry still in the midst of a recovery from 2020.
One potential explanation for this is trepidation among restaurants about their ability to pass on higher prices to consumers without seeing a corresponding drop in demand. Of course, many do–especially lower margin locations that simply are not economically viable otherwise.
However, not every restaurant or other business has the ability to simply pass on higher input costs to consumers, across-the-board. In fact, you might recall that during Disney’s fourth quarter earnings call, CFO Christine McCarthy was asked about the impact of inflation on Walt Disney World.
She started by saying this was a question that’s on the minds of every CFO and senior management team running companies in the United States, noting that Disney is watching inflationary pressures and trying to manage them.
In addition to raising prices, McCarthy discussed managing costs: “We can adjust suppliers. We can substitute products. We can cut portion sizes, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines. We can look at pricing where necessary. We aren’t going to go just straight across and increase prices.”
“We’re going to try to get the algorithm right to cut where we can and not necessarily do things the same way. We’re producing technology to produce some of the operating cost. That gives us to absorb some inflation. We’re trying to use our heads here to come up with a way to kind of mitigate some of the challenges that we have.”
Even prior to McCarthy’s infamous “waistline” comments, we had noticed that portion sizes have become noticeably smaller post-reopening, with quality cuts along with them. There are a number of restaurants where this has been noticeable, and it has gotten so bad at Flame Tree BBQ that we rarely dine there anymore. (That’s just one specific example of many.)
The point is that Walt Disney World is not just increasing prices. They are reducing portions, decreasing quality, and raising prices. Obviously all three of those things aren’t happening on every single item (kind of difficult to reduce the size or quality of a 20 ounce bottle of Coke!), but they’re making these “adjustments” wherever possible.
While it’s clear now that Walt Disney World is going to try to pass on some of those costs to consumers, it’s erroneous to assume that this was an inevitability, or that Disney prices are predicated upon its costs. After years of increases, menu prices are wholly divorced from input costs.
As we’ve said before, Walt Disney World charges what the market will bear, increasing prices not at the rate of inflation or because its costs are rising at a commensurate level, but because they can. Walt Disney World is an extremely savvy and sophisticated business that maximizes profits to the greatest degree economically feasible. It’s not as if they have been “holding back” and could’ve unilaterally increased prices even more prior to this.
Presumably, Disney waited so long to increase food prices because there was internal uncertainty as to how consumers would react. Not in terms of vocal complaints or outrage on social media, but behaviorally. If the extra $.50 here or $2 there causes more people to balk at impulse snack purchases, buying more booze, or even eating another table service meal, it could be counterproductive.
These items are all profitable even pre-price increase, so it’s not as if Disney “needs” to institute them in order to remain economically viable. It’s more a matter of wanting to maintain its margins without seeing reduced demand. Now that consumers are accustomed to the impacts of inflation on food, perhaps Disney felt that would give them cover to raise prices–that people would more easily accept the prices as out of Disney’s control or commonplace in the market. It’s likely that many guests will shrug off this news, numb to headlines about inflation or skyrocketing food costs.
In the near-term, it’ll be interesting to see what impact this has on guest spending. One relevant consideration here is that Walt Disney World’s dining capacity is still not back to 100%. This disproportionately impacts table service restaurants, where Advance Dining Reservations have been in short supply for much of the last year. (I’m actually somewhat surprised Disney didn’t capitalize on the previous supply-demand imbalance, and raise prices on table service menus months ago.)
Even absent price increases, that trend may not have continued as before. The busy holiday season is over and even if the next couple of months don’t end up being a typical winter off-season, they almost certainly won’t be as busy as the last two months. As things continue to normalize—the labor market, household savings, and supply chains—there could be less of an issue with all of this, anyway. For their part, many economists are forecasting food prices to stabilize in 2022.
Anyone reading Walt Disney World planning resources is likely aware of having groceries delivered to Walt Disney World resorts at a reasonable cost and can avoid at least part of this price increase by bringing their own snacks to the parks. You’ll still get hit by the price increases at table service restaurants, 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.
Eventually, this could catch-up to and be self-defeating for Walt Disney World. To be sure, they’ll reap some short term revenue gains by charging a bit more for various foods. Guests may balk at prices for some unnecessary purchases, but not everything or everyone. The people who are already at Walt Disney World are largely a captive audience.
However, these decisions also have long term ramifications that can far outweigh the immediate gain of the current quarter. The biggest consequence of this and every recent price hike will eventually be in terms of perception. We’ve mentioned this before in the past, but there’s a cumulative impact of these increases. Even if this is not borne out right away, they do take a toll on guests and change how people view Walt Disney World’s value proposition.
It’s unlikely that many people will cancel their Walt Disney World vacation upon reading this news. If the end of free FastPass, Disney’s Magical Express, etc. wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back, this probably won’t be, either. Rather, this is yet another gradual annoyance about Walt Disney World nickel and diming guests, the cumulative impact of which eventually changes behavior.
Right now, visitors wear “Most Expensive Day Ever” (among countless other designs) Etsy shirts half in jest, while still visiting Walt Disney World. They’re willing to laugh off the expensive nature of a Walt Disney World vacation as they are comfortable with their personal economic circumstances and the overall cost of the trip, even if grumbling about it. That won’t always be the case–but we’ll spare you further commentary about Disney’s perception and reputation problem. For years, we’ve been saying this is a long-term liability; given that it has yet to catch up to Disney, maybe it never will.
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!
Just a comment about the food situation here. I can deal with increased costs for F & B. But what I find unacceptable is a reduction in portion and quality to go with it. That should just not happen. It is the reason why I will never go to a very popular burrito chain that starts with a “C” again. I hope I don’t see this to be the case when we visit in May.
It’s really sad as me and my family love WDW and will always want to go, but we are just a regular family with an income to match, we live in England and have always booked when the free dine offer was on, our cancelled holiday from 2020 had free dine, free fast pass and magical express. Our 2022 trip has none of these and I fear will be our last for quite some time these constant price hikes put Disney world out of our price bracket.
At AK as I type this. Just finished kids meals which is just right for my wife and I. Tonight dinner will be off site. Better food and senior prices. It’s getting more $ every trip, but we keep coming.
I think it will only be a matter of time before they (Disney) will NOT allow food to be brought in. I think that we have all been lucky to be able to bring our own snacks, waters, and bottled soft drinks. Think about it, you can’t go to the movies and bring your own popcorn & drinks and candy.
If Disney needs/wants to raise the price of all food products because it is getting more expensive all over ( not just the USA) the price of beef, milk and vegetables are more expensive here where I live too in Europe. Along with fuel / gas / oil prices.
So everyone has options. Right now we are allowed to bring food items into the parks. What will it be like when they stop that.. because that is just a matter of time before that happens.
Will you stop going ? I am a die hard Disney fan, and I will still be there because it’s a place that makes me the happiest. What ever the cost. But that’s just me.
@Lindsay,
I wish I could upvote your comment in regards to Disney expanding and utilizing grown on property foods, especially fruit and veg! Such an excellent point!!
My family feels the same way. We are looking at other destinations.
This reminds me of an NPR story I heard about live Christmas trees. They take about 5-7 years to grow. Around that long ago, there was a surplus of trees for sale. Prices bottomed out at below cost due to oversupply. So farmers stopped planting trees. Now there are not enough trees, prices are high, and farmers are planting them left and right. Meaning 7 years from now prices will drop again.
Disney, liking the farmers, needs to learn to plan ahead better and not make changes based on what is happening right now that may come back to haunt them in 5 years. Yes, people are paying the crazy prices now. But Disney has a captive market. Families can’t go to Mexico or the Caribbean without risking getting stranded by a positive test. And they all have a bit of extra cash from stimulus checks and the monthly child tax credit payments. And many of the costs, like food, are hidden and not apparent until you show up at the resort. So the real test of whether these price increases are sustainable won’t be known in 2022. People right now at WDW could very well be deciding that the cost t hassle of airport transportation, food, genie+, etc. all adds up to a vacation they don’t want to repeat, and go home and warn their friends and family to avoid it like the plague. I worry for Disney in 5 years.
We we there a couple of months ago and only ate snacks in France when we were in Epcot. Other than that, we had our own snacks and the refillable popcorn bucket. We did eat QS and TS, but about half of that was paid for through free gift cards and the rewards from the Disney Visa. We spent about $1000 less than our budget because of that, only doing Genie+ one day and not doing the Christmas party. We aren’t heading back to Disney anytime soon.
Yes ever heard of the great tribulation it getting here
@Ash it might be a little insulting to some, but she wasn’t exactly wrong about that…
I’m a dvc holder and I am genuinely starting to worry that I am going to be priced out of Disney vacations. Not in the distant future either.
@Jill
I apologize. My reply was for Jill Prutzman. Not you. Got the Jill right. Oops. 🙁
I have seen many complain on various sites and I absolutely get it. I also understand that prices everywhere are going up, groceries, clothing, gas etc. however in time things will go down again as they usually do but unfortunately once Disney sets these prices and uses the economy as reason, unlike other places they will not decrease their prices. Their reasoning will be, “if you could afford it then you can afford it now”. And that is what is upsetting.
@Brenda
You must have tagged me by mistake – please reread my comment. I specifically said that my family brings all drinks and snacks into parks ourselves – its quick simple and easy and I prefer doing that rather than stand in line to pay $$$ for overpriced items. Instead, we save up to spend on what is important to us, which is accommodations. Unfortunately your inflation rant isn’t particularly relevant to my comment. 🙂 I also do all food shopping for my family and am keenly away of pricing – thus the fact that I don’t buy snacks at Disney.
My family visited Walt Disney World yearly, for at least a week, sometimes more than one trip per year for the last 20 years. Unfortunately, COVID changed that for 2020. We were planning to return in 2021, but the changes made at WDW have infuriated us. No free magical express, no free fast pass, the demise of the dining plan, no character interaction! What is the point of going at this time? Raising food prices, lowering quality? Why not? Their thinking – people will still come to this most magical place. That’s okay for this big celebration year. What do the executives think will happen in future years? I would rather spend my hard earned money on other vacation options. The Disney greed has taken away the magic. My older two grandkids were lucky enough to enjoy and remember Grandma & Pa taking the whole family to celebrate birthdays yearly at WDW. SINCE 2019, our family has been blessed by the birth of two more grandchildren. When all of my grandkids are all old enough to truly appreciate the experience I may take them all one last time. Before then, there are many beautiful places to vacation in this country and throughout the world. Disney should think about how many loyal visitors they are now alienating.
My family and I are going in February. This will be my 6 and 4 year old first time at Disney World. With the elimination of fast passes, Disney Express, increased ticket prices, and now increased food prices, we will be looking elsewhere to travel after this trip. I think that families will go once and then spend their money on other affordable family vacations. Gone are the days of making Disney an annual or bi-annual vacation. I can go overseas comfortably with the money we are spending. (and the cruise pricing is worse)
We are leaving in a few weeks for Disney. My husband and I just cancelled all our dining reservations and will stick with Amazon Fresh and a few things in the park instead.
For the record, Universal is also very expensive, but doesn’t seem to have the PR issues that Disney does. I wish they would just pull a “Dan Price” to handle inflation and company issues. Then expand the “grown on grounds” Living with the Land preaches. They clearly have the space. Healthy, less expensive options with low carbon footprint is what is good for people’s waistlines and what is in demand. Walt would endorse.
Is there anything they have not increased in price or taken away while keeping prices the same. Took away fast pass, Magical Express, magic bands yet no price decrease to compensate for loss of services. Decreased portion sizes and did not decrease prices and now increasing prices. Everything is up and it isn’t inflation. It’s pure greed.
As the family planner it’s getting very hard to sell Disney, they are looking else where
@Jill
Guess you don’t do the shopping at home. Or don’t check prices. Or you’re so young it’s your first real experience with inflation. Inflation sucks. Early ‘70s. Ended up shell shocked over prices. NO gas. Only allowed to try for some at the occasional station still open every other day, by last digit on your number plate (odd or even, including letters [ODD LETTERS?]). Just starting out, ended up believing we were headed for abject poverty. Hubby in Navy, just the 2 of us, couldn’t afford kids. Qualified for WELFARE (what was a vacation?). Didn’t take it. Too proud, if had kids would have had to. Food & rent on a third floor walk up. In a neighborhood with gunfire many nights.
Sorry, can’t feel bad for a more expensive vacay. We were there for our 50th wedding anniversary last Dec. Booked in June, prices up along with scarcity by Dec. Put your fancy vacay money into the bank for when things get really bad. You might feel lucky to be able to afford day (or 2) old no name bread with store brand almost past date block cheese for dinner.
My folks were young marrieds during the Great Depression.