So, just to clarify, this is only buffet style places?

I'm heading down with a friend from Jan 2-Jan 8, and I'd hate to pay extra cash for every meal.

I'm opposed to buffets.  Nothing says "quality eating establishment" like a sneeze-gaurd.

Maybe it should be looked at as a perk for visiting and dining during the non peak seasons?

Heh. I'd pay the extra four bucks if the food experience rocked, but since a lot of those buffets have been going downhill in quality for the last few years (Boma being the biggest disappointment...) I'll go elsewhere.

Thanks for the heads up, Jim!

*sigh*.  That means that a dinner for four would be 132.00 plus tax instead of 112.00 plus tax?  Wow.  But in the broad scope of things, if you can afford to pay for the former, you can pay the latter.  I have worked in restaurants for my whole adult life, and prices go in one direction.  The reality is that people on vacation care less than people not on vacation.  Unfortunately, Disney could get away with charging even more.  Two years ago I was on vacation in Hawaii and paid 25 dollars, per person, per day for a buffett breakfast at the hotel, and 30 dollars per person per day for lunch.  I could have gone off-site (and did several times) but you end up paying for the convenience of NOT going off-site.  One additional point, Disney charges less for better food then Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and most other regional park chains.  Much less and for much better food.  My wife and I visit parks all the time and you pay less to get into a Cedar Point, but EVERYTHING else is much more expensive than Disney, and much lower quality.  Disney, Universal, and Busch are in a class by themselves.  Bottom line is that I would pay it.

Jerryj1008 said:

"*sigh*.  That means that a dinner for four would be 132.00 plus tax instead of 112.00 plus tax?"

Actually, it would be $128, but you've got the concept right.

Anyway ... Disney has thus far resisted looking like they were gouging guests, huh? That's a new one on me. But I digress. So last quarter, where Disney World turned a record $600 million profit, wasn't good enough for them, I guess.

These dining changes are brutal. And Jim actually left out the worst one which is the gutting of the Disney Dining Plan. They lowered the price per day by $1 (whoopee!), but they cut out the appetizer that used to be included AND the tip is no longer included. So they lowered your cost by $1 and then raised your out-of-pocket costs by $30 or $40.

But it's supply and demand, I guess. Theme park attendance is at an all time high, so they can gouge if they wanna gouge.

I'm no fan of the buffet style joints at Disney, but this is absurd. They are turning many of the sit-down dining spots into "Character Buffets," and it's completely limiting the the amount of places that you can eat. The prices at the buffets are already absurd and highly profitable for the company.

It to me is symbolic of what has been happening in the US the last several years. Household income has gone down over the past five years, but companies like Disney just keep jacking up the prices. There is going to be a tipping point, it's all economically absurd.

Great! Now I'll have to eat even more to get my money's worth! I'd better start shopping for larger pants right now!

Pickstar... you forgot to mention the absurd EXTREME Disney Dining Plan!  Which includes everything the original plan included plus a refillable mug and the option to use table service all the time (in place of counter service).  Oh... and it's only 69.99 per adult as opposed to 37.99.

FYI: Disneyland has officially denied that it's refurbing "Small World" due to the size of guests: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21713571/

yeah.. I just called the WDW Dining hotline. Dinner at the Crystal Palace is gonna cost me $32.99!

According to AllEarsNet though, the regular price is $27.99. That's a $5 premium.

Right now the Disney Dining Plan seems just about worth it..

Seems we're moving towards Disney's Gastronomical Express - i.e., the only way to afford dining at Disney parks will be to include it as part of your hotel / ticket / dining plan package, essentially agreeing to sleep every night and eat every meal at a WDW establishment.

It's a seller's market.  We just made our reservations for WDW at the end of January 2008, and were told Epcot's LeCellier is booked through 8:50PM on our arrival night, 11 weeks from now.  And that's in the dead of Value Season!

I suppose one could argue that if it wasn't for the buffet's et al, then there would not be the neet to 'supersize' the ride.

Just to clarify - Jim said the Disney Dining Experience was adding a 18% gratuity, not the Disney Dining plan, although it may be adding it as well.

I'm turned off by Disney's constant price increases and quality decreases.  I could tell a big difference in the number of offerings at several buffets, Cape May Cafe in particular.  They have really decreased the different items available on that dinner buffet from previous year.

Disney is pricing themselves out of reach for the average American family.  But the average American family will still go, even if they have to pay for it with plastic - no wonder our country is in so much debt!

The added 18% gratuity using the DDE is regardless of party size.  Usually it was added for parties of 8 or more.  Now it's 1-infinity.

So nice to see Disney taking advantage of Resort guests. If the Company were hurting for money, they maybe it could be justified, but this is just pure greed at work.

Funny thing is, they recently justified taking the automatic tip out of the DDP on the grounds that since the CMs knew they'd be getting the same tip regardless of how well or how badly they did, they'd provide indifferent service (Disney put it in a nicer-sounding way than I just did, but you get the idea). So by that logic, aren't they encouraging indifferent service to DDE members?

Anybody want to take any bets as to how long it'll be until a mandatory 18% tip is instituted for everyone at the table service restaurants?

I second Spajadigit's comments. Hadn't been to Orlando for a couple years, so when I visited in March, I reserved 3 nights at Boma during the week. After the first night, cancelled the remaining two nights - it was no where close to what it was before. Sad thing was - when it was good, I would have gladly paid more.

Otherwise, I'm not sure who is shocked that a restaurant offers a limited menu at increased prices during a holiday. That's pretty standard restaurant practise, at least for those than include silverware with the culinary experience. The $5 holiday charge isn't paying for the DCA upgrade - Disney Co had enough money to build a Disney Seas in the Anaheim parking lot the first time around - they simply chose not to, since the public wouldn't notice.

During that Orlando March trip - stayed offsite, mostly ate offsite, did more shopping offsite. Disney Co got my money for admission, a few souvenirs, and a quick bite here and there. However - if Disney Co had followed their founder's goal - namely "focus on offering quality" - I probably would have stayed onsite and spent a lot more money onsite.  I have no problem with price increases - it's price increases with no increase in value that's the catch. Doesn't matter if it's a theme park, a restaurant, or a souvenir - if the quality is there, people will pay for it.

Since the premium buffet price periods pretty much coincide with the blackout periods on the Florida resident seasonal pass, all the more reason to buy the seasonal pass instead of the annual pass. (Actually, we buy one AP for the free parking and the rest are SPs. We wouldn't go during the blackout periods anyway. Too crowded.)

The 18% gratuity is because on average most guests don't tip waiters (ugly truth) and then Disney has a complaining union.  Cast members have the same forced gratuity on their discount and have for years.  You won't see us complaining because we know the reason why.

The REAL story here is that Iger's forcing the company into phasing out trans fats and making the food healthier has forced the quick service places to up the quality of food while keeping the same relative prices.  The truth is you don't NEED a character buffet to fill yourself up anymore, just tonight my girlfriend and I got Philly cheese-steaks and were stuffed for less then $20 at the Pinocchio Haus.  Similar thing happened at Animal Kingdom last week.  Lesson?  DON'T GO TO THE BUFFETS!  There's good food to be had at the QSR's and you won't bloat yourself!

I'm a WDW cast member and I NEVER use my 2% "discount".  Ever since the Dining Plan came online, the food and service at just about all of the table service restaurants has gone downhill. Let the server know you are a cast member and it's even worse.

Here's the real kick in the. . .ankles.  Disney gives the cast members holiday discount coupons good for 50% off of a meal in the parks and one for out of the parks.  18% gratuity is added on at table service locations.  Don't they have other ways to pinch a penny?  It makes the old banker in Mary Poppins grabbing the tuppence seem like a generous old soul.

Sorry I sound a mite bitter, but you would think that with record profits, Disney could do a little better for their cast members at Christmas.

And don't even get me started on the "Great Forgotten Holiday", otherwise known as Thanksgiving.  But that's not just Disney, that's everywhere.

if i could really believe the increases are for expansion but it seems to me that its the same old story across the country - corporate america's non-stop gouging of us.  service is cut - prices are increased and the only ones that benefit are the greedy thug executives of corporate america.  its an obvious attempt to get us poor working class out of their parks - this country is quickly becoming a place only for the affluent and apparently disney is following suit.  the only way to stop this is for people to stop going to these parks, spend your money on a nice vacation in a city that doesn't even have an amusement park.  

and what is this with corporations telling us how much we HAVE to tip.  a tip shouldn't be mandated, if i get lousy service i shouldn't have to leave a tip.  this is totally ridiculous  - thanks for that article Jim - this company just lost one of its faithful.  i've been an employee, stock holder, customer and guest but you know what - i've had enough!!!

Exactly, mechanikins!  Why should I be told how much to tip a server.  It's supposed to be a reflection of the service you received during your meal and an incentive for servers to provide great service.  It's good manners to leave a tip but beyond rude to be told how much to leave.  Think of the headlines if a chain like. . .let's use Friday's as a random example, suddenly implemented a policy of demanding an 18% gratuity from their customers!  

We have been DDE members for over 10 years.  I don't think we'll be renewing next year, though.  It has nothing to do with how much tip we leave - I don't like the decision being made by Disney!  

Now, with the "holiday premium" on buffets, it's just another reason to not renew our DDE as well as no longer dining on property.  We stopped doing character buffets a few years ago, but Trails End at FW is one of our favorite dining locations and was actually among the best values on property.  Not during Disney's "holiday" times, I guess.

So over the past few years there has been increased resort rates with less service - result - we stay at non-Disney resorts;  increased prices for MVMCP with less offerred - result - we no longer attend; forced 18% gratuity on table service meals for DDE members and "holiday premium" on buffets at WDW restaurants - result - non-renewal of DDE and dining off property.

How much more damage can they do before they lose all of their loyal guests?  Do they even care?

The 18% gratuity clause has been rescinded. An email went out this week from Disney stating they are removing it.

Original19:  Have you ever BEEN to a WDW buffet?  Just wondering...

As far as the Holiday Premium is concerned...there's no question that its primary purpose is to raise revenues.  But could there be a secondary reason, or side effect, to deter enough people to alleviate some overcrowding in these locations, due to the DDP, etc.?  Crowds at these places are bad enough -- during holiday/peak seasons, they border on insane, unmagical, and even unsafe.

You know...  Maybe it's because I've worked in food service but it's considered common courtesy to tip 20% so forced gratuity of 18% isn't bad when you consider that most guests are too cheap to pay 20%.  It's called being fair and respectful to your server.  Also I know it's too hard to use your brain but adding 18% to a meal discounted by 20% is still paying less then a 2% discount because it's 18% of the discounted rate.  

Maybe your service would be better if your waiter wasn't getting snubbed by ungrateful vacationers all the time.  I mean I gotta wonder who's really being cheap when you complain about gratuity, especially when you're a fellow cast member.  Plus any real cast member would know they have the means and the responsibility to complain to leadership if their service is really poor so the can fix the issue.  I don't mind the forced gratuity for cast members because I'd be paying it anyway because I KNOW what kind of crap they go through on a daily basis.

Also, my point still remains that the quick service food has improved in quality with the same relative prices so really anyone who needs to eat can do so without breaking the bank.  Practice a little restraint and don't try to stuff yourselves silly and not only will you save some money but you also won't wear yourselves out so much at the parks.  The rest of this just sounds like whining at the moment...

Now if you want something to be legitimately outraged over then where's the reporting on the fact that full time bartenders don't get to keep their tips?!  Now that's something to be ticked about!

And don't forget that if it's the food that's lousy, don't punish the server!