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Credit: DisneyWhen it comes to inflation at Walt Disney World, it is hard to ignore how costs have risen over the past few months, especially when it comes to food and drink pricing.
Although Disney did see some rough patches, the company’s CEO Bob Chapek noted that the theme parks had their second most profitable quarter, which shows that the company is definitely on the upswing. Now that hotel rooms are tougher to find, the 50th anniversary is being celebrated, and shows like World of Color, Fantasmic!, Disneyland Forever, and the Main Street Electrical Parade has returned, the desire to visit a Disney Park will only continue to increase, especially after so many Guests have had to put off trips.
But, that profit has not come without a price that Guests have had to pay. We recently covered how prices for multi-day tickets have gone up at Walt Disney World. We used a 4-day trip as the basis for our comparisons. Park Hopper Plus 4-day tickets used to range from $546.65 — $708.57 and are now $559.53 — $708.57. It appears that on average, multi-day tickets increased by around $20 or so. On top of that, hotel room rates continue to increase, and although currently suspended, Annual Passes in Disney World have gone up in cost, as well as the new Magic Key Pass in Disneyland. We have also seen food pricing go up while portions go down, as well as the rise of liquor. To add, the addition of Disney Genie+ is now a new financial opportunity for Disney, whereas before, FastPasses were free.
During the Walt Disney Company fourth-quarter earnings call, the issue of inflation and the potential for increased prices at Disney Parks inevitably came up during the question and answer segment.
Related: CEO Defends Controversial Disney Genie, Response “Overwhelmingly Positive”
Walt Disney Company CFO Christine McCarthy addressed the situation, noting that Disney has no plans to outright raise prices within Josh D’Amaro’s Parks, Experiences and Products division. She did, however, indicate that Disney is looking at a number of ways to cut costs behind the scenes, including “reducing portions” at Disney Parks restaurants.
McCarthy noted that this would be “good for some people’s waistlines” when they visit Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort.
Since then, we have already seen portion sizes shrink, while costs have risen for many different food and beverage items across the Park. Now, it seems some Disney fans have noticed that Disney has swapped manufacturers for one of their beloved food items, shrinking the size of the snack, while raising the price. The interesting thing is, that exact same snack is sold at a local gas station, by the same manufacturer, for a much lower cost.
Acdoesdisney (@acdoesdisney) and the Disney Couple (@disneycouple) looked into the now smaller size of Disney’s cream cheese pretzel. The cost raised to $7.19 even though the pretzel size changed. It seems the Wawa carries the exact same snack but sells it for only $2.00 which is dramatically cheaper than Disney, according to the post below.
We have seen Disney inflate costs of items you can purchase elsewhere, like water, for example, as many theme parks do. The interesting thing with this snack is that many thought it was exclusive to Disney, and that the pretzel itself is now reportedly a much smaller size than what was previously offered with the heightened cost.
Have you noticed prices raising at Walt Disney World? Are you ok with these costs?
Let the expert team at Academy Travel help you plan your next magical vacation to Disneyland Resort, including Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, and the Downtown Disney District. Or what about Walt Disney World Resort’s four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — and the Disney Springs shopping and dining district!