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It might really be time to take advantage of those cheaper flights to Orlando, because Disney World’s just raised its ticket costs. The Orlando Business Journal reports that over the first weekend of June, Disney World bumped its one-day, single-park ticket to $89, when previously it cost $85. This might have been in response to Disney World’s biggest competitor, Universal Studios Orlando, raising its one-day single-park ticket price to $88.
I think not, because the prices on many types of park tickets are going up this summer. Four-, five- and seven-day tickets to Disney World now cost $256, $268, and $288, respectively. The park hopper ticket also went up from $55 to $57.
The Orlando Sentinel has the scoop that Disney World annual pass prices are going up as well. These tickets, which guests only have to purchase once a year and are allowed to use as many times as they want that year, already come at a hefty asking price. Disney might feel that interested parties can afford the price hike, however, now that guests have the option to pay for the annual pass in monthly installments.
The most expensive pass one can buy for Disney World, the one that offers unlimited admission to all parks, water parks, and any other venues, was the first to go up in price. It used to be $649 and now it’s $699. With sales tax, that’s $744.44. Perhaps the part that smarts the most is that reduced admission price for all annual passes for children aged 3 to 9 has been eliminated. Guests can still buy cheaper regular admission tickets for their young kids, but no longer for annual passes.
Prices for regular annual passes, which are only for theme parks, went up to $574, and seasonal passes for Florida residents, which have blackout dates, went up to $299. Some financial experts believe that Disney World has two main reasons for suddenly raising their prices so much: the impending opening of the Fantasyland expansion and following a model set by Disneyland.
Disney World thinks it can afford to raise its ticket prices because people will still come, perhaps even more people than usual eager to see the Disney World expansions. After all, if I’d lived in the Orlando area for years I might have eventually gotten bored with Disney World, but now I’d want to check it out again to see the new Fantasyland.
In other ways Disney World is just following a model set by Disneyland. The Anaheim-based park is in a more densely populated area, so its demand for annual passes is higher, and in turn it recently raised the prices on them. Disneyland is also expecting an attendance bump for their California Adventure expansion, which includes Cars Land.
It used to be that the more I’d learn about the Disney parks the more I’d want to go. But lately I’ve been feeling discouraged. The concept of park hopper tickets really bugs me: you mean I pay all of that money and I only get to go to one park? It just seems ridiculous. Beyond that I’m just not sure I’m interested enough in Disney World to pay all of that money. Sure, I love Disney but I’m actually not a big fan of many amusement park rides so I’m just not sure that those sky-high prices would be worth it.
Disney World had better hope that many others don’t think the same; Universal and Sea World Orlando’s annual passes are only in the $120-$400 range.
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New FastPass Technology Tested at Disney World
*(This image by Joe Shlabotnik is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
