Disney Guests Concerned About Via Napoli Pricing

What’s Via Napoli, you ask? It’s the promise of something new and better, coming to Walt Disney World this Fall! (Well, new and better if you haven’t been thrilled with the Italian food options at Walt Disney World up until now, which many guests haven’t.) But many Disney World guests are already concerned about one unknown — the price.

Via Napoli Concept Art

Via Napoli will open in September as Disney World’s newest Italian eatery, located in the back of Epcot’s World Showcase Italy Pavilion. This restaurant will feature Neapolitan dishes (Naples is located just south of Rome) along with Via Napoli’s spotlight item — wood-fired pizzas. The pizzas will be thin-crust, Neapolitan-style (which many of us know as New York-style), and will come to your table straight from one of the massive pizza ovens.

The Disney Food Blog has been speculating about the cuisine for weeks now; they have locked in their thoughts on what the pizza and other Italian offerings might be like based on the menu over at Naples in Disneyland, a restaurant run by the same off-site company that will be running Via Napoli — The Patina Group (who is also responsible for Epcot’s Tutto Italia).

Pizza in Disneyland's Naples Ristorante

But while expectations are high for this restaurant, one of the biggest complaints already being lodged by Disney guests is the price. Pizzas at The Patina Group’s other restaurants — including Naples in Disneyland — average around $16 for a personal pizza (10 inches), $27 for a large, and $44 for a family-size. Even though the restaurants tout the use of flour imported from Italy, imported water with the same mineral content as that in Naples, and handmade mozzarella, Disney guests aren’t sure the pizza will be good enough to make them part with quite that much of their Disney dining budget. However, those who typically purchase the Disney Dining Plans are optimistic — this could end up being a great deal for a Disney dining credit!

What are your thoughts? Is $45 too expensive for a large pizza, even if it is made with imported water, or are you ready to pay any amount to finally have great pizza in Disney World?

In the meantime, we’ll have to make due with the Italian restaurants currently running on Walt Disney World property — Tutto Italia, Tony’s Town Square, Tutto Italia, and Il Mulino.

I hope September gets here soon.

This post is part of the DisMarks Disney Blog Carnival! There are lots more great articles over there, so be sure to take a look and support other Disney sites at the same time!

Photo Source — Patina Group

7 responses to “Disney Guests Concerned About Via Napoli Pricing

  • You KNOW that $44 for a large pizza is too much. This is a no brainer. Will they sell? You KNOW that too! With all the more exotic food choices in Epcot, parents desperate to get their children to eat will flock there and shell out whatever it costs. For a while, regardless of kids, the pizzas will sell simply because it’s a new place. And, although I am sure they will be delish, there’s no way that flour and water and mozzerella, no matter where they come from, can make a pie worth $44.

  • I definitely hear your point. I have to confess though that I don’t mind paying extra for good pizza and I don’t mind paying extra for food in Disney World. Those two things together might make me pay $44 for a pizza! Also, if you read DFB’s review you’ll see the “individual” size is actually pretty big, so hopefully most of us won’t need a large.

  • I agree, I wouldnt normally pay that price for a pizza regardless of if it was at Disney or handcrafted in Italy. Would I try it if on free dining or the DDP? Yeah, however this wouldnt be an out of pocket expense. I am interested to hear if the reviews are going to be saying if its worth the money at all or not! Great article Zane!

  • The question of whether $45 is too much for a large pizza is taken slightly out of context without more information for comparison.

    What would an average family of four – 2 adults, 2 12-year-old kids – spend on a meal at Epcot? Using the typical counter-service restaurant menu as our basis, a combo meal and beverage comes to *about* $10. (slightly less, but we’re rounding for easier math). Sit-down restaurants are going to be higher, obviously.

    So if the average family meal is going to run the average family *about* $40 anyway, how does that look in perspective to the $45 family-sized pizza with regards to whether the family would have an equal amount of food?

    Using those numbers, if Disney’s philosophy is that there is about a 10% premium for a gourmet-oriented meal vs counter-service, then I agree with Disney’s thoughts on this and don’t see their Epcot pizza pricing as out-of-line.

    When you compare this to the mass-market room-service pizza available at the resorts, you’re looking at a little less than $20 for a 16″ pizza plus 15% gratuity and 2% service charge – not necessarily enough for a family and lower quality (and if you are on the Disney Dining Plan, then that room service pizza turns into The Most Expensive Pizza Ever Made).

  • you all make me laugh ! You’re willing to shell out God knows how much to buy a pair of mouse ears or a Goofy top hat but when it comes to getting the most authentic pizza outside of Italy, you cheap out.
    Wake up !!! This is the best pizza you will ever eat unless of course you’re a big fan of Papa John’s or Domino in which case you deserve what you get.

  • First time reader of the site, enjoying it so far.

    I did want to point out that in your last paragraph you list some of the other Italian eateries on Disney World property but left off a very good, somewhat hidden gem: Mama Melrose’s in DHS.

  • Billy — Good point. While I wouldn’t call Mama Melrose “authentic,” it’s good food and very reasonably priced for a Disney restaurant. We’ve had several good meals there.

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