Are candy canes worth $70 a pound?
Those five-ounce candy canes that Disneyland fans race to get before they sell out each Christmas season are among the most expensive foods you can buy at the Anaheim theme park.
The 18-inch-long candy canes sold on select dates at the Candy Palace and Candy Kitchen in Disneyland and Trolley Treats in Disney California Adventure cost $21.95 plus tax.
That's $4.39 per ounce or just over $70 per pound.
“Wow!” Sarah Baigent wrote on Instagram. “That's a lot of money for a candy cane.”
“Too pricey,” Tony Abad wrote on Instagram. “I got two last year. Tasted alright, but it's still just a candy cane.”
How do those candy cane prices compare to other foods you can get at Disneyland and DCA? And at restaurants around the parks? Or at a grocery store in the real world?
Let's start by comparing the cost of Disneyland candy canes to other foods you get at the supermarket based on the October 2023 Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At $70.24 per pound, Disneyland candy canes cost 111 times as much as bananas (63 cents per pound), 37 times as much as tomatoes ($1.87 per pound), 13 times the cost of ground beef ($5.35 per pound), nine times as much as bacon ($7.23 per pound) and six times as much as sirloin steak ($11.70 per pound).
What if you want someone else to do the cooking for you?
Morton's Steakhouse, across the street from Disneyland on Harbor Boulevard, offers a 16-ounce prime ribeye for $68. Carthay Circle restaurant in
“Too pricey. I got two last year. Tasted alright, but it's still just a candy cane.”
— Tony Abad wrote on Instagram
DCA will sell you a 16-ounce prime rib crusted with cranberry and rosemary for $70. That's about the same price per pound as the Disneyland candy canes.
Just down the block on Harbor Boulevard at Joe's Crab Shack you can get a one-pound lobster tail ($36.99) for about half the price of what you pay per pound for a Disneyland candy cane.
At Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., next door to Disneyland in GardenWalk, you can get almost two and half pounds of garlic shrimp ($28.99 per pound) for the price per pound you're paying for a Disneyland candy cane.
Inside the parks, Disneyland sells handmade toffee ($1.55 per ounce) and handmade peppermint bark ($2.20 per ounce) out of the same confectionary kitchens where the candy canes are created. But that's still half the price of the Disneyland candy canes that sell for $4.39 per ounce.
Disneyland doesn't publicize the weight in ounces of the churros ($5.50), popcorn ($5.75), Mickey-shaped pretzels ($6) and cotton candy ($6.50) sold at vending carts in the parks. But if any of them weigh more than an ounce, they likely cost less by weight than the Disneyland candy cane.
The closest price comparison to the Disneyland candy cane is likely the cotton candy that cost $3.50 per ounce ($6.99 for a twoounce tub) in the candy and sweets shops inside the parks. That's nearly twice as expensive as the popcorn that sells for $2 per ounce in the candy shops ($5.99 in a three-ounce bag).
Of course, you're paying a premium for the Disneyland hand-pulled candy canes — just like everything else you buy in the parks.
Disneyland annual passholder Brandy Rodriguez thinks the candy canes are worth the price.
“A lot of people like them and they're obviously very popular,” Rodriguez said. “It's a big candy cane. Plus, it's Disney.”
Logan's Candies in Ontario also sells handmade candy canes for $59.95 per pound — a little less than the $70 per pound at Disneyland. The big difference: Logan's Candies doesn't charge a $104 to $194 theme park admission to get into the store.