Change in pricing for people over 9 ordering from kids menus

[Kmk2]

I bet the CS meals are on Disney's radar too, perhaps they just can't figure out a remedy for that one just yet. I bet there are more people who split those meals vs buying kids meals since most CS kids meals suck.

It’s not feasible at CS. I wouldn’t waste time worrying about it.

 

[TwoMisfits]

It’s not feasible at CS. I wouldn’t waste time worrying about it.

At CS, they may just phase out kids' meals, if it becomes an issue.

I know at Universal during the height of Covid, they stopped advertising all the kids' menus to push you to order regular meals at CS. I'd expect that would be the 1st step if Disney ever went that way. Removing kids' meal options from menus before removing them from existence (or repricing them into adult-based ala carte pricing).

 

[poohj80]

After seeing the receipt, I do think this is more fair than when we recently ate at Be Our Guest. My teen ordered the Chicken breast off the kid's menu but was still charged the full adult price. They did tell us this up front but would much rather have been offered the option to pay ala carte.

 

[Moliphino]

It’s not feasible at CS. I wouldn’t waste time worrying about it.

Jack up the kids meal price and then discount it if ordered with an adult meal.

 

[Kmk2]

At CS, they may just phase out kids' meals, if it becomes an issue.

I know at Universal during the height of Covid, they stopped advertising all the kids' menus to push you to order regular meals at CS. I'd expect that would be the 1st step if Disney ever went that way. Removing kids' meal options from menus before removing them from existence (or repricing them into adult-based ala carte pricing).

As a practical matter how are they going to stop people from splitting a meal? It’s not feasible.

 

[raidermatt]

Restaurants charge kids less, barely making a profit if at all, to entice parents to come in and eat there. Many people won't go out to eat as much if they have to pay full prices for food their kids may or may not eat. So the OP had the situation where their older child, who should have ordered off of the adult menu, got charged more in line with what is atypical cost for the food. Most kid's meals are a deal as an incentive. The issue was paying more for the food for an older person, then shouldn't the opposite be true too also? That kids should get charged less for the food? I know what you are saying about the cost is the cost regardless of who is eating it, but that is not really how restaurants see it. If they all of a sudden got adults coming in and ordering kid's meals, at those prices, they would go out of business.

A sure way for a business to fail is to tell customers they are looking at things wrong. Especially when the customer's viewpoint is based on straightforward logic. This is why most restaurants are not heavy-handed when it comes to enforcing this type of rule. Sure, if a group of 4 adults all want to order a kids meal, most will enforce the rule. But one? Certainly some will still balk, but they are also the ones who wonder by some customers don't come back. And in Disney's case, they are still making a tidy profit on kids meals. With all the other price increases and service cuts going on around the parks/resorts, does it really make sense to squeeze a few extra $'s out of people who don't want to order more food than they can eat? I guess this type of decision is at least consistent for today's Disney, and of course they can do whatever they want (within the law), but there is no way something like this is any kind of significant net gain for them, and it may even be a net loss. Its just the spreadsheets only show the theoretical short term gain.

 

[lowlight]

Watching people strategize ways Disney can charge them more is…interesting. It’s like a bunch of inmates sitting around talking about ways the warden can make their confinement more miserable. “Maybe if they reduce three hots and a cot to two colds and a sleeping bag the prison can save a few hundred bucks a night”. Good ideas guys, good ideas.

 

[lowlight]

A sure way for a business to fail is to tell customers they are looking at things wrong. Especially when the customer's viewpoint is based on straightforward logic. This is why most restaurants are not heavy-handed when it comes to enforcing this type of rule. Sure, if a group of 4 adults all want to order a kids meal, most will enforce the rule. But one? Certainly some will still balk, but they are also the ones who wonder by some customers don't come back. And in Disney's case, they are still making a tidy profit on kids meals. With all the other price increases and service cuts going on around the parks/resorts, does it really make sense to squeeze a few extra $'s out of people who don't want to order more food than they can eat? I guess this type of decision is at least consistent for today's Disney, and of course they can do whatever they want (within the law), but there is no way something like this is any kind of significant net gain for them, and it may even be a net loss. Its just the spreadsheets only show the theoretical short term gain.

Well said. I don’t even care about this, it’s not something I’ve ever had to do, but some people got benefit from this and there’s no reason to pile on them unless you’re an undercover Disney exec. It’s like this weird Stockholm syndrome experience where people defend those abusing them. Disney is burning every bridge it can and I’m just wondering when people are going to snap out of it and start criticizing Disney so they can hear the backlash they deserve.

 

[Lilsia]

A sure way for a business to fail is to tell customers they are looking at things wrong. Especially when the customer's viewpoint is based on straightforward logic. This is why most restaurants are not heavy-handed when it comes to enforcing this type of rule. Sure, if a group of 4 adults all want to order a kids meal, most will enforce the rule. But one? Certainly some will still balk, but they are also the ones who wonder by some customers don't come back. And in Disney's case, they are still making a tidy profit on kids meals. With all the other price increases and service cuts going on around the parks/resorts, does it really make sense to squeeze a few extra $'s out of people who don't want to order more food than they can eat? I guess this type of decision is at least consistent for today's Disney, and of course they can do whatever they want (within the law), but there is no way something like this is any kind of significant net gain for them, and it may even be a net loss. Its just the spreadsheets only show the theoretical short term gain.

I agree that with Disney, things are a bit different. This is either a bean counter strategy or they are having an issue with too many people coming in and ordering just kid's meals. Remember, there are a lot of restaurants on property that are not run by Disney and they need something that works for everyone. It would be a lot more work for the restaurants, but they really need an in between level like many are asking for. A smaller portion of regular food(not the kid's meal stuff), for those who eat smaller portions.

 

[Chris Anglin]

I had gastric sleeve surgery a year ago so my portion sizes are sometimes even less than a child's portion so I have started ordering off the kids menu. It really isn't fair to those of us who actually eat like a picky child. Seems to me they would rather throw leftover food in the trash than give people a fair price on smaller portions.

 

[Dizman-Z]

quite honestly, if anyone thinks Disney is not a money hungry company and will not charge as much and then some more that their patrons think is reasonable ... well then... silly them. You go to Disney and eat at their overpriced and sometimes very disappointing fast food or restaurant venues you get what you deserve, empty wallets and a why did I eat here cloud over your head. Smarten up folks Food among most other things at Disney ARE overpriced and even then not up to the normal quality standards of regular stores or eateries, That is Disney always was , but now getting worse and worse , hail to the bean counters and way overpaid executives with no real idea of the effect it is having on true Disney fans.

 

[Sue M]

Sounds like a reasonable compromise price to me. i often order kids meals at QS places, I don't do it at TS restaurants but it would be nice if they offered smaller portions to everyone on an a la carte basis.

As a 60 years old I'm not comfortable asking for a kids meal at TS, if they just put smaller portions on the menu, would be nice. Would probably hurt their bottom line though as more people would eat less. They might also be healthier and waste less food!

Apparently restaurants have been cutting portion size, but not prices

 

[notatallmagic]

I guess I'll cry "foul" on the idea that ANY food service location in Disney's empire is losing money on food! What do you think the true food cost on a hot pretzel is? I can easily make one (WITH cheese sauce) for less than 25 cents - they charge $5.25 or 21 TIMES what the cost is; bottled water is at least a 10X markup; soft serve ice cream? Sodapop? French fries? Popcorn? All a minimum 10-20X markup - or in other terms, food cost represents 5-10% of the cost of what you're paying for the Disney food.

In terms of staffing pay; tips are based on a percentage of the bill, so ordering a kids' meal or ordering an appetizer or sharing a meal has no difference in impact. With our food "issues", we don't dine at fixed price locations, because I simply cannot justify $60/person for food we can't eat. Thank God for the quality QS locations that we've scouted out ahead of time that meet our needs. Magic Kingdom though is the worst park for Quick Service dining for those with dietary issues, which is why Jungle Skipper has been our "go-to" for quite awhile. In any event, I hope we can all agree that there is simply no way Disney is losing money on the cost of food, kid's meal or not.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

Watching people strategize ways Disney can charge them more is…interesting. It’s like a bunch of inmates sitting around talking about ways the warden can make their confinement more miserable. “Maybe if they reduce three hots and a cot to two colds and a sleeping bag the prison can save a few hundred bucks a night”. Good ideas guys, good ideas.

Watching people complain about every single facet of a vacation company...then still paying them thousands of dollars to be miserable on vacation...is also interesting. It's like a bunch of inmates who have the keys and don't leave. Smart plan friends, smart plan.

 

[Sue M]

Watching people complain about every single facet of a vacation company...then still paying them thousands of dollars to be miserable on vacation...is also interesting. It's like a bunch of inmates who have the keys and don't leave. Smart plan friends, smart plan.

I think people are just getting tired of the prices constantly going up and this is pretty petty, charging extra for the same size portion cause you’re not a child. Just my opinion.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

1. I would not have ordered a kids meal over the age of 9 at a WDW ts and expected to pay the kid price. Never would have thought of it.
2. I have ordered kids meal multiple times at multiple qs places for myself.
3. As a former server I find the lack of communication to the customer and lack of consistent application of this new policy maddening.
4. This, and a million other things, have brought me to conclude my vacation dollars are better spent elsewhere for the foreseeable future.
5. I am not sure why I keep reading these outrageous threads! Disney habits die slow, hard deaths.

 

[lowlight]

Watching people complain about every single facet of a vacation company...then still paying them thousands of dollars to be miserable on vacation...is also interesting. It's like a bunch of inmates who have the keys and don't leave. Smart plan friends, smart plan.

You were so close to a decent analogy. You clicked on an obvious complaint thread and decided to tell folks you’ve never met how their gripes are unwarranted. You basically took it upon yourself to use your keys to open the prison front door and let yourself in to party with the inmates and you were upset with the flavor of pruno we served.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

You were so close to a decent analogy. You clicked on an obvious complaint thread and decided to tell folks you’ve never met how their gripes are unwarranted. You basically took it upon yourself to use your keys to open the prison front door and let yourself in to party with the inmates and you were upset with the flavor of pruno we served.

So people who have opposite views of people in complaint threads aren't allowed to interject their views? Newsflash, complaint threads make up 50% of today's Disboards. If people want to discuss all things Disney here they should be prepared to opinions that differ from them.

I think the gripes people have do have merit to the extent that I understand they have to pay more for their meals which affects their vacations. But what I am saying is I disagree with many people in this thread's overall thoughts that Disney is being unfair or too greedy in their TS food policy.

 

[TwoMisfits]

So people who have opposite views of people in complaint threads aren't allowed to interject their views? Newsflash, complaint threads make up 50% of today's Disboards. If people want to discuss all things Disney here they should be prepared to opinions that differ from them.

I think the gripes people have do have merit to the extent that I understand they have to pay more for their meals which affects their vacations. But what I am saying is I disagree with many people in this thread's overall thoughts that Disney is being unfair or too greedy in their TS food policy.

I agree. I think the true complaint is "TS adult meals cost too much." And I actually agree, although seeing as how they sell out the limited seating for the TS, my thoughts are not likely Disney's thoughts.

The complaint is not really "I want a kids meal at kids price and Disney's being unreasonable that I can't have it", when pretty much the entire TS restaurant industry has never adopted that paradigm anywhere at any time. They have set kid menu ages (if they even have kids meals - most ethnic cuisine places do not) and they stick to them.

I mean, try to go to Red Robin and order a kids meal at 16 and pay a kids meal price. Ditto trying that at Olive Garden, or Outback, or Ruth's Chris, etc. No one allows it...anywhere...for anyone that is definitively out of the "look" of the age range (yes, you can sneak in a kids meal for those 1-2 years above, usually, but that's b/c the restaurant is not about policing integrity, only obvious people out of the range).

 

[HashberryOTG]

But I don't understand why, if I want the exact same portions of food that a 9-year-old eats, I have to pay MORE for that exact same food. What exactly am I being charged for? It's the SAME FOOD. It doesn't cost Disney any more for me to eat it than for a 9-year-old to eat it.

My 80-year-old mother has a very small appetite and prefers the smaller portions of the kids' meals. Why should she be charged more for the same amount of food?

It makes zero sense.

Because kids meal pricing is essentially like being "on sale", as a promotion for people to bring their children. Sometimes places have 'kids eat free on tues' or whatever. No one assumes that means any age eats free. Maybe we can all start going after the world for age discrimination in dining! (This is a humorous rant, NOT a political statement!!).