Yoo Hoo, Chet!
On August 9th '97 you wrote to Bruce Metcalf:
 CR> Where would you eat, inside the parks, if you were on a tight budget?
Any food court or "buffeteria" (cafeteria) setting.  In a buffeteria
you save money on tips and you can simply get an entree or whatever
you want without having to deal with several courses.  Choose to eat
your "big meal of the day" at midday when many sit-down and buffeteria
restaurants offer mostly the same menu at lower prices than the
usual dinner hours at the end of the day.  Some restaurants (I think
in Epcot, but get this double-checked) offer some early-bird dining
specials with some price incentives that make them a little more
attractive than the regular menu.  Look at counter service eateries
aka "fast food" and see if their combo meals make more economic sense
to your budget than ordering items of it individually.  I've heard of
people splitting adult entree's too, because the portions happen to
be generous.  Another on-site dining saving tip:  Don't order any
beverages with your meal, just order water.  The mark up (and profit
potential) on soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled water, beer, wine and
mixed drinks is very great.  If you go anywhere where tipping is expected
but all you order is water (no food, nothing else) it might be a kindness
to the server to leave a small tip for their time/trouble in bringing
you the water.  This might get you through an evening at a place like
the Adventurer's Club or any of the clubs at Pleasure Island even if
you don't want to really order anything on the menu or bar list.  Otherwise
stay out of any place that remotely deals with tipping for service.
A couple of things to keep in mind and kinda be honest about:  Disney
prices are going to be "in line" with their theme park competitors.  You'll
save money, but not necessarily time and convenience by eating off-site.
There is no "right" or "wrong" in eating on-site or off, it's whatever
you choose whether you want to save money or time/convenience (and I
do believe that time/convenience can have a "value" as much as money
does).  Lastly, any place or event that attracts mass quantities of
people will mark up the food and beverage costs beyond the cost of
what you'd pay if you bought the similar item from a real world store
or restaurant or purveyor.  When Super Bowl 31 was held in New Orleans
earlier this year you wouldn't beleive how much one of the sponsors,
Coca Cola, was charging for a bottle from a vending machine at one of
the fan events ($2!!).  At the Olympics in Atlanta last summer I heard
news stories about the high prices sponsors such as McDonald's was
charging for food, and I've heard the same story about the new Fulton
County Stadium the Atlanta Braves now play in (they even cracked down
on bringing in baby formula from outside!).  _Any place_ that has a
"captive audience" is going to mark up the food and beverage cost to
"captive audience/what the market will bear to recoup our costs" levels.
Disney is no different, but look at Universal, Six Flags and other such
places where people gather and they all do it too.  I don't like it
either but this is corporate/corporate sponsor/"exclusive vendor" type
stuff that is prevalent in today's marketplace.
--Carol Koster                  ()~()    FidoNet Disney Echo Moderator
  CKoster@neosoft.com            (_)
  FidoNet: Address replies to Rich Koster at 1:3828/1.3
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