How Will Disney Menu Price Increases Impact My Budget?

Yesterday, a lot of Disney price increases hit the news. A lot of our long-time readers will expect me to write about how variable pricing on Genie+ will impact your vacation. But … Genie+ is a totally optional thing that many WDW visitors will choose to avoid – myself included. You know what’s not really as avoidable? Food. Yes, you can bring your own. But that siren call of a premium Mickey bar gets me every time. And not much about the menu price increases was covered yesterday. So today I want to share with you some example price changes at some of my family’s favorite dining locations, as well as those of other TouringPlans staffers. And then we’ll see how the overall changes would impact my family’s budget for dining on a trip.

My Made-Up Rules

I’m going to try to make this reflect an example Disney vacation for my family. We’ll stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, we’ll have groceries delivered to cover most breakfasts and snacks, and we’ll do one day in each of the parks with a resort day in the middle. Most days we’ll be trying to eat one counter-service meal and one table-service meal.

It also means that we’re not ordering much alcohol. I know this isn’t representative of all Disney families, but it’s not something I like spending money on while on vacation. And this article is mostly about food price increases, so we’ll keep the focus there.

It also means no soda prices (which have gone up). We order 6- or 12-packs of soda with our grocery delivery and use those as our preferred, cheaper caffeine intake for the day.

Arrival Night Dinner at Sanaa

On this made-up trip-in-my-head, we’re staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and we’re doing one day in each of the parks. That means our favorite arrival restaurant for dinner – Sanaa.

My family’s order:

• Indian Style Bread Service (previous price: $21, current price: $21)
• Potjie Inspired (previous price: $30, current price: $31)
• Pork Shank (previous price: $28, current price: $29)
• Kids Meal Cheeseburger (previous price: $12, current price: $13)
• Kids Meal Butter Chicken (previous price: $11, current price: $12)

Total Price Difference: $4 increase, plus tax and tip

Magic Kingdom Meals

Lunch from Sleepy Hollow

My family’s order:

• Two Chicken Waffle Sandwiches (previous price: $11.29, current price: $11.59)
• Two Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwiches (previous price: $8.49, current price: $8.49)
• One fountain lemonade, as a concession to our children (previous price: $3.99, current price $4.29)

If I know anything from grocery trips at home, it’s that fruit prices have gone up. So it’s weird that this is where price increases haven’t happened …

Total Price Difference: $0.90, plus tax

Dinner from Skipper Canteen

Side note – our family is definitely priced out of meals at Cinderella’s Royal Table and Be Our Guest (from $62 to $67 per adult and $37 to $39 per child) at this point.

My family’s order:

• Tastes Like Chicken Because It Is (previous price: $26, current price: $28)
• Hardy Har Char Siu Pork (previous price: $26, current price: $28)
• Junior Skip’s Macaroni and Cheese (previous price: $10, current price: $11)
• Chef Tandaji’s Crispy Chicken (previous price: $11, current price: $12)

Total Price Difference: $6 increase, plus tax and tip

EPCOT Meals

Lunch from Regal Eagle Smokehouse:

My family’s order:

• Sliced Texas Beef Brisket Sandwich (previous price $13.49, current price $13.79)
• Memphis Dry Rub Pork Ribs (previous price $16.29, current price $16.29)
• Kid’s BBQ Chicken Leg (previous price $7.99, current price $8.49)
• Kid’s Cheeseburger (previous price $7.99, current price $8.49)

Total Price Difference: $1.30, plus tax

Dinner from Biergarten

My family’s cost:

• Two adults (previous price $46, current price $49)
• Two children (previous price $25, current price $27)

Total Price Difference: $10, plus tax and tip

Resort Day Meals

Brunch from Whispering Canyon Café

My family’s order:

• The Heritage Skillet (previous price $24, current price $26)
• The Carnivore Skillet (previous price $24, current price $26)
• Two Kid’s Mickey Waffles (previous price $8, current price $9)
• One Orange Juice (previous price $3.99, current price $4.29)

Total Price Difference: $6.30, plus tax and tip

Dinner from Topolino’s Terrace

My family’s order:

• Rigatoni (previous price $32, current price $34)
• Sea Scallops (previous price $50, current price $52)
• Kid’s Rigatoni (previous price $10, current price $10)
• Kid’s Filet (previous price $17, current price $17)
• Crème Brulee (previous price $14, current price $15)
• Warm Chocolate Cake (previous price $14, current price $14)

Total Price Difference: $5, plus tax and tip

Hollywood Studios Meals

We almost always only eat quick service at Hollywood Studios because we’re generally unimpressed by table service options at that park. But I’ll add in a late-night visit to Oga’s to “make up for it”.

Lunch from Woody’s Lunch Box

My family’s order:

• BBQ Brisket Melt (previous price $12.99, current price $13.29)
• Totchos (previous price $9.99, current price $9.99) – rejoice for steady-priced tots!
• Smoked Turkey Sandwich (previous price $10.49, current price $10.79)
• Kid’s Grilled Cheese (previous price $6.79, current price $6.99)
• Two Lunch Box Tarts (previous price $4.29, current price $4.49)

Total Price Difference: $1.20, plus tax

Dinner from Docking Bay 7

My family’s order:

• Fried Endorian Chicken Tip Yip (previous price $15.49, current price $15.69)
• Smoked Kaadu Pork Ribs (previous price $16.99, current price $16.99)
• Two Fried Chicken Tip Yip Kid’s Meals (previous price $9.99, current price $10.49)

Total Price Difference: $1.20, plus tax

Drinks from Oga’s Cantina

My family’s order:

• Fuzzy Tauntaun (previous price $17, current price $18)
• Hyperdrive (previous price $6.50, current price $6.50)
• Jabba Juice (previous price $7, current price $7)
• Carbon Freeze (previous price $7.50, current price $7.50)

Total Price Difference: $1, plus tax

Animal Kingdom Meals

Once again, no table service meals for us here. Let’s see the impact of our counter-service-only meal choices.

Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ

My family’s order:

• Baked Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork (previous price $12.49, current price $12.49)
• Ribs and Chicken Combo (previous price $15.69, current price $15.69)
• Kid’s Hot Dog (previous price $7.29, current price $7.59)

Total Price Difference: $0.30 – thanks, hot dog inflation

Dinner at Satu’li Canteen

My family’s order:

• Combination Bowl (previous price $17.99, current price $17.99)
• Cheeseburger Steamed Pods (previous price $12.79, current price $13.29)
• Kid’s Beef Bowl (previous price $9.49, current price $9.79)
• Kid’s Cheeseburger Pods (previous price $8.29, current price $8.59)

Total Price Difference: $1.10, plus tax

Departure Day Brunch at Boma

My family’s cost:

• Two adults (previous price $29, current price $35)
• Two children (previous price $17, current price $21)

Total Price Difference: $20, plus tax and tip

Total Cost Difference and Takeaways

Additional cost for current menu prices: $58.30, plus tax and tip. Overall, this is about a 6% increase over what I would’ve spent in the past.

Where are the most painful increases? All-inclusive and prix fixe meals. Of my $58.30 increase in cost, $30 of that was just in my Boma and Biergarten meals. That’s where Disney is cranking up prices. If I go to places where I have more say over what we’re ordering, I can control my costs better.