Price increases have become a norm across the board in recent years. Groceries are up. Gas is up. Property taxes are up. At Disneyland, the parks aren’t immune to rising costs, either. Ticket prices went up last year. During the spring, prices quietly started hiking on everything from food to Disneyland hotels, and the changes don’t seem to be slowing down a few months later.
Cocktails Are The Latest Category To (Mostly) See Increases
There have been a slew of headlines about Gen Z drinking less, and Disneyland prices could be a good indicator of why. A slew of new menu costs recently rolled out at the southern California resort, and it was mostly bad news. 53% of mixed drinks saw a similar increase with the new menu prices. Here's what we know.
Mickey Visit did some big work comparing cocktail prices at a slew of resorts at Disneyland during a recent visit. They found the median price of drinks had increased to $21 dollars a pop, up from $20. Some drinks are more and some are less, but in general prices are going up across the board.
There were a few drinks that did actually go down in cost with the new menu. If you enjoy the Aperol Spritz at Wine County Trattoria, it seems the parks actually found the cost to be a little too high, and it’s been marked down from $22 to $21 dollars on the new menu. Drink costs went down for the red and white sangria, as well, but that’s basically it when it comes to good news.
In fact, the number of drinks that are now over $20 dollars increased by 53% in this swift round of changes. Contemplating that is not for the faint of heart.
Meanwhile, just a hop and a skip down the street at Carthay Circle, one of the lounge’s yummiest cocktails (and probably my favorite drink), the Double Pear Martini, will run you a whopping $24 dollars. It wasn't that long ago this drink was only $22.50, and that sucker used to cost around $16 or $17 before all the recent prices hikes. I remember thinking it was a bit pricey at the time. My, how things have changed.
We actually did a deep dive into about 800 items changing prices just a couple of weeks ago. We looked into everything from chopped salads (though I’m guessing those are less popular these days, thanks Cyclospora) to Dole Whip increasing. Individually, a dollar or two here or there on food items may not seem like a lot, but if you tease out the fact this is not the first or second time drink and food prices have upticked in recent years. Then, you throw in meals, snacks and other food fun to accommodate a whole day, the money in my wallet is certainly not stretching as far as it used to, and that has to be factored in for every trip into the parks.
Disney’s always looking to make changes, and some of these are good things. New attractions like a Coco-themed boat ride at California Adventure and Stark Flight Labs are heading to the parks. There’s a long list of new and innovative snacks to try out this summer.
Honestly, these changes don’t mean I’ll be skipping the Double Pear Martini every time I go to Carthay Circle, but I definitely see it as more of an indulgence than a fun dinner accoutrement at this point. That’s true of signing on for after hours events, purchasing new Minnie Ears and so much more in this brave new world, as well.
