The room service tab Kevin McCallister accumulates in “Home Alone 2” would be significantly more expensive today, thanks to inflation. But how much exactly would it cost to indulge like him for a day?
“Home Alone,” a highly popular holiday film featuring Macaulay Culkin, was followed by its equally beloved sequel, “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” in 1992.
In a similar vein to the original movie, “Home Alone 2” follows Kevin as he gets separated from his family during their holiday trip to Miami.
Instead of joining the McCallister family in Florida, the young protagonist ends up in New York City, where he cleverly deceives the staff at the Plaza Hotel into providing him a room.
During his short stay, Kevin racks up a substantial room service bill, which is presented to Buzz McCallister (played by Devin Ratray) by the bellman Cedric (Rob Schneider) at the film’s conclusion.
Kevin and Buzz’s father, Peter McCallister (John Heard), is astonished to discover a staggering charge of $967.43, leading to a frustrated outburst from him before he hastily exits.
Kevin’s food order alone amounted to an impressive $728 during his time at the Plaza Hotel.
His indulgent dessert choices featured two chocolate cakes, six custard flans, a pastry cart, eight strawberry tarts, and 36 chocolate-covered strawberries.
The detailed bill also included six servings of chocolate mousse, each adorned with M&Ms, chocolate sprinkles, cherries, nuts, marshmallows, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and bananas.
The mousses were served with sides of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream—ideal for anyone with a sweet craving.
As noted, Kevin’s extravagant dessert choice led to a total of $728 on the Plaza Hotel bill.
After adding tax and gratuity ($239.43), the final bill Buzz received reached an astounding $967.43.
Now, 32 years later, people are curious about the cost of Kevin’s bill in today’s economy.
Last year, analysts at NoDepositDaily utilized the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator to compare the room service cost in both December 1992 and December 2023.
They determined Kevin’s delightful splurge would have cost $2,184.42 last year.
UNILAD, using the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator, estimates the food bill would be approximately $2,150.91 in 2024.
This reflects a dramatic 75.9 percent increase in just over 30 years!
The infamous “Home Alone 2” bill has recently resurfaced on social media, sparking reactions from film enthusiasts.
One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, commented, “A 10-year-old unsupervised child in the Big Apple? What choice did he have?”
Another user noted that the $967.43 charge seemed ‘reasonable for the amount of food that he got’.
“Well, keep track of your kids and money next time dad,” a third fan sharply responded.
Someone else added, “While Mr. McCallister has the right to be livid about that, he brought it on himself for his irresponsibility with not watching Kevin at the airport and leaving his stuff with him.”