Disneyland and Walt Disney World recently saw significant price increases almost across the board as everything from tickets, to Genie+, to food and optional experiences saw price bumps on at least one coast, if not both. Paying more for the same thing is going to be frustrating for anybody, but a picture of a piece of cake from Disneyland’s famous Blue Bayou restaurant is going viral because of how little you apparently get.
The image that was posted to Reddit is of the 8-Layer Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake that can be purchased at the Blue Bayou. The restaurant is generally regarded as the best one inside Disneyland park. Its location, inside Pirates of the Caribbean, gives it without question the best ambiance of any table service location in that park, and the menu is usually solid. However, if you spent $10 on this piece of cake, you might begin to question things.
the_8layer_skinny_cake_of_the_caribbean_now_this from r/Disneyland
The person posting the image says they’ve ordered the cake before, and thus know that previously, the slice they would get was more significant. It’s hard to argue that this one doesn’t look tiny, and certainly not what one would expect for $10. Getting a small portion of a dessert is one thing, but usually if you spend a lot and get a little, the quality of what you get is quite high. This doesn’t even look that appetizing.
This is seen as another element of the pricing issues that Disneyland has seen in recent weeks. There are, after all, two ways for a company to increase profits on something like food. You can increase the price for the same amount of food, or you can provide less for the same price. It seems that’s what is going on here.
And to be fair, we knew this was a possibility. Last year during a Walt Disney Company earnings call, CFO Christina McCarthy, in response to a question about ways to increase profits without increasing prices, suggested that reducing portion size was one way to do that, saying…
We can cut portion size, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines.
It would seem that we are seeing the “shrinkflation” of portions take place, just as predicted, at least in some cases. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its face, but as stated earlier, if you’re going to pay the same price for less food, it has to be great food. Even if this cake is delicious, it doesn’t look delicious.
Part of the argument that Disney has been making regarding everything from price increases to the really disliked Park Pass reservation system is that these things are needed to give guests a one of a kind magical experience. People will likely be more than willing to pay more for a meal if they get one they can’t find elsewhere, but the last thing people eat is going to be what they remember the most, so dessert has to be special.
