Thoughts on what it means that turkey legs now cost $9.75 at WDW. http://miceage.micechat.com/kevinyee/ky101811a.htm
WDW’s turkey legs now cost $9.75 – the price strikes me as high. You, too? It’s the cost of a theme park burger, for crying out loud! In 2005, the price was $6.50; if you assume the cost should have risen with inflation, that $6.50 turkey leg should cost $7.19 by 2010 (using the inflation calculator on westegg.com)
So it’s not your imagination. WDW really is getting more expensive, and it’s not just inflation. I’m not going to deny there’s an element of greed and money-grabbing in this move. There must be. But still, the scale of the climb is a bit breathtaking. Is there anything behind it?
Turns out, there is. Look around the Outdoor Vending (ODV) cart and you’ll discover a second sign. Like the price hike, this one might have been around for ages and I just never noticed, but then again I’m not the target audience. It’s for tourists staying at Disney hotels and using the Disney Dining Plan (DDP), you see.
As the sign points out, you can now use the DDP for a turkey leg “meal.” This will cause rejoicing among some tourists. I know the turkey legs have their fans. But others may see a more ominous future implied by this move
What came to my mind first is that the price hike might be related to the customer quest for value. If you’re on the DDP, you feel like you haven’t been ripped off if your meal would have cost $15 to buy out of pocket. But you might feel ripped off if your meal would have only cost $9. Solution? An artificial price hike to make it seem like your DDP purchase was a wise move. Unfortunately, it punishes those people NOT on the DDP with higher actual prices.
This also cheapens the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) entitlement of the DDP. If you’re using the QSR DDP, what you think you’ll get it burgers and fries, but now apparently turkey legs is added to the mix. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that if this sort of thing is considered acceptable by the DDP users, they will expand the project. Meaning that your DDP might in the future pay for carts rather than restaurants—the restaurants, even burger joints—might become saved for a higher level of DDP than the QSR one. Funny. Not too long ago, there was only one DDP. The price you paid included appetizer, dessert, and gratuity. They chipped away at what’s included (no more gratuity, no more appetizer) and redefined that old price as the QSR version of the DDP… that was nothing more than a stealth price hike.
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