Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I'm sure the portion sizes were a LOT smaller .....<< Maybe, but the Mammoth Matterhorn Mountain sundae ($1.00!) features 5 scoops of ice cream, sliced pineapple, 5 different sundae toppings, sliced banana, chopped almonds, whipped cream and a cherry. Or what I call "an appetizer."
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I'm sure the portion sizes were a LOT smaller ....." Exactly and I bet the quality was barely edible. This is pure conjecture, but I believe that people's expectations for general dining options are much higher today at Disneyland than they were back in the 60s.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb You know, I can get a pretty nice breakfast at the Carnation Cafe for not much more than the local Denny's and for the same price as Denny's I can get a similar breakfast at River Belle Terrace and get a nice view of Rivers of America while eating it. That's not bad at all. That said, I almost never buy sodas in the park and never buy myself a churo there when I can get a bigger and better one at Costco for a buck.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <This is pure conjecture, but I believe that people's expectations for general dining options are much higher today at Disneyland than they were back in the 60s. > Oh, no question... but that's a separate question. I remember posting a link a while back from an early 70's guidebook that showed just how many eateries were basic burgers/dogs/sodas and how few were anything more interesting than that. BUT that's a separate question from price/markup. <Maybe, but the Mammoth Matterhorn Mountain sundae ($1.00!) features 5 scoops of ice cream, sliced pineapple, 5 different sundae toppings, sliced banana, chopped almonds, whipped cream and a cherry.> Yep. And others who grew up in eastern LA county may remember the mini-chain Betsy Ross with the colonial theme. Their tall 5-scoop/5 topping sundae was called the Washington Monument, and sold for not much less than the Matterhorn sundae. Again, there was a bit of a markup, but not bad. Even today, there are differences in what gets marked up. The mid-price meals like River Belle and Plaza Inn are probably the best bang for the buck, while snacks and sodas probably have the biggest markup. When a coke was going for 15c ($1.09 in today's dollars) at Carnation, it was going for that price all over the park. Now it's 3 times that. Churros, popcorn, ice cream bars... that's where you see the biggest markups relative to the "outside world." DL just didn't used to do that TO THE SAME EXTENT back in Walt's day.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Not as long as they still have that Downtown Disney/Hotel lot where I can park for 2 hours for free. (or is it 3 hours?)<< It's 3 hours of free parking at the DTD lot. Or you can just stay until after the parks/DTD closes (like if you want to see the last WOC showing), and it's absolutely free. I'm not sure what time they stop checking tickets on the way out, but I've gotten out of there for free several times without even trying. This past February, they were doing special showings of Gone with the Wind at the AMC, and we went out for dinner at Uva Bar before. The evening was about 7-8 hours of validation-worthy expenses, but you can only get 5 hours for free with validation; good thing they stopped checking tickets long before the movie was over! But you didn't hear that from me...
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin Why must a company who is trying to price to balance supply and demand be called greedy? I'm glad that the park is pricing tickets so that the parks are not as crowded. For me, the price is still worth it by far, even if it does seem very high.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "You can believe me or not." I don't trust anyone's memory. And that's all you were giving us and expecting us to take it as fact. "Or perhaps you'll believe this:" That's more like it. Actual evidence. Thanks. "Should I go on?" Please. The more data, the better.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 "I don't trust anyone's memory. " Well all right then. It was correct, though. And it was DL policy, which is pretty well known for those who know DL history.
Originally Posted By 9oldmen >>I'm glad that the park is pricing tickets so that the parks are not as crowded. << We still don't know how much of an impact this is going to have on crowding. We do KNOW that reducing crowds was NOT the intent of raising prices. The intent was to increase profits. We'll see what happens, especially since most passholders, I'm assuming, still have active passes that were last renewed before these increases went into effect. We're going to have to see what happens over the course of the next 360 or so days to really gauge how much this imapcts crowding. I'm willing to bet that the place is still going to be pretty crowded. >>But you didn't hear that from me...<< Hear what?
Originally Posted By tashajilek >>I'm sure the portion sizes were a LOT smaller .....<< Thats suprising. My mom always goes on and on about how back when she was a kid fast food burgers used to be so much bigger and great. Being Canadian and dealing with outrageous prices DL food can sometimes be either ok priced or sadly a good deal.I remember after a DL trip we ordered only 2 salads from Wendy's and it was over 20 bucks! 2 subway sandwhiches cost 20 bucks too.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Well, kids are smaller than adults, so they tend to remember everything being bigger than it is in reality. I went to my hometown a few years ago, after not seeing it since I was a child, and I was surprised to see how everything was pretty close together, despite my memories of the other side of town being really far away. And not that I'm accusing your mother of having bad taste, but children often have different standards of what makes a 'good' meal. The child in me often gets the better of me, so I have mac & cheese way more often than I should, but I also appreciate a lot of other things now too, that I never liked as a kid. I'm sure that the child version of me would not like the "improvements" that they've made to most of the DLR restaurants in the past 4-5 years, but they are actually serving better food now. And your food prices just sound crazy! And I assume that's not even with the exchange rate, which would make it even worse. I can't imagine paying $20 for 2 fast food meals anywhere. And people say America is screwed up! : )
Originally Posted By mawnck >>My mom always goes on and on about how back when she was a kid fast food burgers used to be so much bigger and great.<< Well, that's moms for you. In the 1950s and 1960s, the standard adult order at a McDonalds was the equivalent of the Kid's Meal today. The Big Mac debuted nationally in 1968. The Whopper got larger for a while in the 1980s, but it's back to its original quarter pound size. And bottled Cokes were 6 ounces. Dang it, now I'm hungry.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< And bottled Cokes were 6 ounces. >>> That's a very good point. How large were the 15-cent Cokes mentioned above?
Originally Posted By u k fan At my local Burger King in the UK you'd be paying around $10 for a burger meal, McD's would be around $7-8. I don't know how that compares with the US. Off all the things that have caught my eye in this thread this is the one that stands out <<<That said, I almost never buy sodas in the park and never buy myself a churo there when I can get a bigger and better one at Costco for a buck.>>> While Costco over here is very cheap for food, they don't sell churros and now I'm completely bummed out!!!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>At my local Burger King in the UK you'd be paying around $10 for a burger meal, McD's would be around $7-8. I don't know how that compares with the US.<< About $6-ish here in Orange County, CA USA. Taco Bell has $2 value meals! (single item, a bag o' Doritos, and a small soda.) Marketing is a dark art, that's for sure.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb ODV cart food and drinks are ridiculously over priced for sure. But compared to take out and sit down restaurants here in So Cal the equivalent Disney places aren't too bad, yes it costs more but not enough more to make leaving the parks for meals a huge money saver unless you're doing it picnic style. For instance, if I were to go out and buy a chicken Caesar salad similar to what I can get at R2P2 for $8.99 it would cost me anywhere from $7.00 to $9.00, unless I buy it from Costco for less than $4.50 the price difference is negligible. I'm not saying Disney doesn't over charge for their food, they do. But I think those inflation dollar comparisons aren't strictly accurate because many food establishments are on par with what Disney charges (just yesterday it cost $11 to get my son a BBQ sandwich and a Coke off a food truck). Back when I only worked part time as a single mom and our APs were our entertainment expense for the year I would go to Trader Joe's before our trip for snacks and meals for the day and that saved money over in park food, but I think that's the only real way to save money unless you want fast food value meals for the length of your stay.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb All that said, I will probably buy Powerades or Gatorades to bring into the park when we go this summer, saving the containers to fill with water when they're done. Like I said the ODV carts are ridiculous.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance You've got a good head on your shoulders, Deb. You always bring something new to the discussion that hasn't been thought about yet. I enjoy reading your posts.
