Anyone else completely priced out of the buffets at Disney now?

I should add that generally speaking we are not buffet fans either for the most part. But the cost of breakfast fare getting over $35/person??? Minnie, Goofy, & Mickey himself should serve me on a silver platter for that price! Even then it's simply not worth it.
 
I dropped a few character meals after the most recent hike. I mean $32 + tax and tip for DS to eat a dessert plate of mac and cheese at Tusker house? And 1900 PF was raised even more than that- I told DD she will just have to meet Alice in MK and she is cool with that, she is afraid of the mad hatter anyway.

Piglet, that crafty minx, is only available at Crystal Palace, so I am stuck with that one. I am trying to reframe it as they are only kids once and I will miss these experiences someday....
 
I dropped a few character meals after the most recent hike. I mean $32 + tax and tip for DS to eat a dessert plate of mac and cheese at Tusker house? And 1900 PF was raised even more than that- I told DD she will just have to meet Alice in MK and she is cool with that, she is afraid of the mad hatter anyway.

Piglet, that crafty minx, is only available at Crystal Palace, so I am stuck with that one. I am trying to reframe it as they are only kids once and I will miss these experiences someday....

Enjoy them now. My DGD is 17 and has not wanted a character meal in years. This year is the first tiem sh eactually asked to go to Snow and the Dwarfs, but that is because we are having one theme day...and we are channeling the dwarves.
 
Don't forget that this isn't the only cost which has gone up. Add in the other restaurant price hikes, ticket hikes, hotels now charging for parking, and attraction parking hikes, you're talking some serious $ increase on the bottom line total of your vacation. And it's only going to get worse with the $15/hr garbage going on.

For what it's costing to see The Mouse, European vacations and staying in decent 4* or even 5* resorts are cheaper.

I certainly understand that costs for everything are going up and Disney is anything but a charity, but their greed truly is pricing people out of the market of not just buffets but from even setting foot on property, period.

Sadly, even people who can't afford these costs will do anything to make it happen. I even saw a discussion on disboards where people were selling their plasma to pay for a Disney vacation. Seriously folks, at some point a reality check is needed.
 


I don’t mind paying for quality food, but if I dish out that kind of money it’s not for mediocre quality buffet food. Plus, being forced to pay a very high buffet price for a true adult is bad enough, but it is just ridiculous when you have twins that are 53 inches tall and 55 pounds and Disney wants to charge them as adults. The two of them together can’t eat enough to justify the cost of feeding one of them at a Disney buffet.

Jess
 
We just did a Biergarten lunch with the new increased price which is a lot higher than lunch previously. We still enjoyed it and thought the price was still something we would pay for this experience.
 
Don't forget that this isn't the only cost which has gone up. Add in the other restaurant price hikes, ticket hikes, hotels now charging for parking, and attraction parking hikes, you're talking some serious $ increase on the bottom line total of your vacation. And it's only going to get worse with the $15/hr garbage going on.

For what it's costing to see The Mouse, European vacations and staying in decent 4* or even 5* resorts are cheaper.

I certainly understand that costs for everything are going up and Disney is anything but a charity, but their greed truly is pricing people out of the market of not just buffets but from even setting foot on property, period.

Sadly, even people who can't afford these costs will do anything to make it happen. I even saw a discussion on disboards where people were selling their plasma to pay for a Disney vacation. Seriously folks, at some point a reality check is needed.

Exactly! As I said before, we could do Disney more often but we are not willing to do that. I have heard of people sacrificing vacations for 4 and 6 years to save up for a Disney vacation, that's not us. We have cruise coming up, food is included unless we want to splurge (and cruise food is usually better than most Disney food), 7 days, including airfare and pre-cruise night hotel for about $1700 total. If we went to Disney for 7 days, park tickets, air, eating at the places we like to eat, it would be at least $1000 more. Even when we were doing 1 or 2 WDW trips a year we refused to stay anywhere other than a "value" (only in the dream world of Disney is a $135/night, more now, considered a value) because the moderates and deluxes are hideously over-price when you consider the amenities, or lack of, that you receive.

As for the $15, that's just going to make people tip less. $15 isn't bad pay for low skilled or entry level jobs which, I'm sorry, waiting on tables is. I, for one, am not going to throw down an extra 15-20% to someone who is already making a decent paycheck for their job.

We LOVE WDW and want to go back, but it will be on our terms. Unless we get a dining deal we won't stay on property. We will take Uber from our hotel to the parks to avoid rental car and parking fees. Many off-site hotels offer breakfast (good enough to get us through the first part of the day).

I won't bad mouth anyone that wants to spend 1000s of dollars, that's their right, and I will be the first to hope they have the trip of a lifetime, but that's not the way we do it.
 


Enjoy them now. My DGD is 17 and has not wanted a character meal in years. This year is the first tiem sh eactually asked to go to Snow and the Dwarfs, but that is because we are having one theme day...and we are channeling the dwarves.

I am dreading that day. Which is why I will still do like 5 character meals on my next trip. The kiddo will only be 10 once and if it's an integral part of his childhood at Disney... I'm going to do it. of course I am only paying for 2, not 4 or more.
 
It's not paid based on their wage, it's paid based on your bill. If you bill is $100, 15-20% is $15 to $20, multiply that by how many tables they cover. We are not talking peanuts.

Worked in the Food and Beverage department of hotels, did kitchen and wait service in various types of individually owned restaurants (personal worst was a coffee shop but those grubby quarters sure added up when needed most:)) before, during, and after college. Waitstaff make crap for hourly wages since government realizes most of their income comes from tips. Most have no health benefits or pensions to speak of either.

The ex was a professional waiter as he came from a country that lists it accordingly and was in high demand when he immigrated to this country. He made enough to allow us to buy a house, for me to attend university (he dinna want to further his education), and for a time to maintain two households, one in NYC, and the other in Ithaca. There were different forms of financial help on my end but I freely admit most of the regular and higher paid income came from his end during our starting years.
We didn't live high on the hog (pretty much always camped for vacations. He received a month's unpaid vacation every August) but could hold our heads up high and plan for a better future for selves and children thanks to tips. Would have starved to death and been dreamless if we depended on the $92.00 check he recieved in hourly wages back in the '80's and prolly wouldn't even be eligible for government assistance even if we wanted it.

At this point in my life I nevah stiff the wait staff unless I'm not getting good service which has nothing to do with the prices the restaurant charges. Bad service? I look 'em in the eye and leave a coin as tip. Maybe they'll be better to the next customer w/ that cause and effect lesson learned.
 
Well said, NYCgirl: My husbands mother fed, clothed, housed her 3 kids by herself while being a waitress. They depended on those tips just to get by.
We never short a waitress or waiter, even with bad service. We always overtip, because my husband has been on the other side of it and it wasn'teasy.
If we have a bad waiter, we just leave a smaller tip.
BYW, I understood the "huge" increase in pay for CM's starts off much lower and will take 3 years ? to eventually get to the $15.00 pay grade. What a joke!
 
I am sure you are right, waitstaff will not be increased over time to the $15 per hour.

My daughters did a few waitress jobs during high school and college years. They made like $2 an hour, most of which went towards payroll and income tax withholding. Anything else came from tips.
 
I realise no one knows for sure, but we are booked for a Crystal Palace breakfast on Nov. 27. With the price range listed as 35.00- 60.00$, should I expect to pay 60? Or is that more for Christmas week and other peak dates? Worried because while I love to begin a trip with that breakfast I’m not paying 60 dollars!
 
History being any guide, you will most likely be closer to the $35. Typically, the high price might be what they charge ON Thanksgiving, or ON Christmas day. But I won't guarantee it 100%.
 
I realise no one knows for sure, but we are booked for a Crystal Palace breakfast on Nov. 27. With the price range listed as 35.00- 60.00$, should I expect to pay 60? Or is that more for Christmas week and other peak dates? Worried because while I love to begin a trip with that breakfast I’m not paying 60 dollars!

Current price (with tax included) is Breakfast: Adult: $40.47, Child: $24.50 (the dinner price is the higher price)...of course, at the current price, when you add a 18-20% tip, you will be paying $48/adult and $29, all in. You won't pay less than this price for your trip.
 
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It's not so much the price but it's the fact we eat no where near that much food to warrant it or want it, but still want our kids to see characters. We are Canadian and when we are in Florida I think the heat (which we are unfortunately not use to) affects our appetite. We just aren't that hungry.

We went to Chef Mickey's last year and paid over $160 USD for 2 adults 2 kids under 5 so over $200 CAD for a few bowls of fruit.

If we could skip the buffet and just order and pay for what we want I'd probably do a character meal every day. But I'm not going to pay those prices every day when all we want is a sandwich or mickey waffle.

We've always done the dining plan in the past but right now it will cost us over $200 per day for a family of very light eaters. My kids eat mostly fruit. We typically stay on-site with the plan but trying off-site this year for easier access to fruit (walmart) and cheaper lunches and meals than disney. We are still planning to do our favourite character meals and I personally I think this will be more enjoyable. But who knows what my update will be like after our trip =)
 
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Current price (with tax included) is Breakfast: Adult: $40.47, Child: $24.50 (the dinner price is the higher price)...of course, at the current price, when you add a 18-20% tip, you will be paying $48/adult and $29, all in. You won't pay less than this price for your trip.

Thank you. For me the breakfast is a tradition, but I think it’s time to break it as I’ve looked at my pictures and last year I really hardly ate anything. I’m going to feel it though for sure on that first day, but really it’s crazy money for breakfast.
I’m an American living in Sweden and if I still lived in the states I feel I wouldn’t care as much about Disney restaurants because in the US great dining experiences are the norm everywhere! Which makes rethinking and eating offsite now easier for me to even contemplate. Mmm American food, at a decent price! Sign me up!
 
History being any guide, you will most likely be closer to the $35. Typically, the high price might be what they charge ON Thanksgiving, or ON Christmas day. But I won't guarantee it 100%.
We arrive the Monday just after Thanksgiving so it might be a bit risky!
 
Well said, NYCgirl: My husbands mother fed, clothed, housed her 3 kids by herself while being a waitress. They depended on those tips just to get by.
We never short a waitress or waiter, even with bad service. We always overtip, because my husband has been on the other side of it and it wasn'teasy.
If we have a bad waiter, we just leave a smaller tip.
BYW, I understood the "huge" increase in pay for CM's starts off much lower and will take 3 years ? to eventually get to the $15.00 pay grade. What a joke!

People who don't want to tip a server have an easy solution: Don't eat out. Looking for justification to be cheap just makes someone, well, cheap. I'd at least give them credit if they admitted that. "I'm cheap. I'm looking for excuses to stiff a hard-working person." Yes, for bad service, leave a smaller tip and ask to speak to a manager so the issue can be addressed. But not tipping because someone thinks a person in a "lowly" customer service job doesn't deserve more than their presence in the restaurant? Wow.
 

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