I don’t know if anybody has ever said this to you, but a Walt Disney World vacation is really expensive. I know, right? Visiting Walt Disney World, or Disneyland Resort for that matter, isn’t a cheap experience… and it’s not getting any cheaper. In fact, as of today, it’s more expensive than ever to buy most tickets to Disneyland and Walt Disney World. That said, while I’m certainly not going to embrace a price increase, I also can’t entirely say it’s no longer worth it.
Walt Disney World and Disneyland Raised Prices, Right On Schedule
You can look back at the last couple of years of stories I’ve written here on CinemaBlend, and a pretty obvious pattern begins to emerge. Last year, right around this time, Disneyland and Walt Disney World raised ticket prices. The year before that, at the exact same point, it happened as well. No points for guessing what happened yesterday.
Likely because October is the beginning of Disney’s fiscal year, we saw the annual price increase at Disneyland and Disney World announced yesterday. Nearly all tickets were impacted. Though the cheapest available tickets haven’t gone up in several years, every other ticket, as well as Park Hoppers, Lightning Lane Multi Pass, and some of the Magic Key Annual Passes, have all gone up in price.
I’m not going to say I approve of the way Disneyland and Disney World have continued to increase pricing. The increases have gone far beyond standard inflation over the last several decades, and thus, tickets are arguably far more expensive than they should be. But then the same could be said of a lot of things.
Disney Parks Are Still A Good Deal
It wasn’t all bad news. On the same day that the price increases were announced, Disney World revealed plans to upgrade the audio-animatronics of Frozen Ever After and showed off other new and upcoming animatronic plans. At least we know that some of this money is going to use.
Disneyland also launched a new ticket deal, though it’s exclusive to California residents. That certainly helps more local guests avoid the recent price increases, which is nice.
When I look at the cost of buying Disneyland or Walt Disney World tickets, I can feel my wallet scream, but the same is true when I look at the current prices for things like NFL tickets or tickets to a major touring concert.
A day at Disneyland is cheaper than a football game. While tickets to Taylor Swift’s last tour had tickets cheaper than a Disney Parks ticket, the average price for a ticket was about on par with a ticket to the parks, and the theme park offered you more hours of entertainment than the concert for that price.
I would love to see Disney lay off the price increases for a while. While I know stockholders will always push for the impossibility of infinite growth, the parks have always made money, even other parts of the Disney machine have not. That said, there’s nothing quite like a Day at Disney, and I can’t say that it’s not still worth it.