Disney raised prices on many of its theme park offerings today, coinciding with the start of the company’s new fiscal year. But consumers aren’t pushing back the way they did a few years ago. Disney’s price hikes are an annual October ritual for the company, and it’s always a tricky balancing act between increasing revenue and consumers’ willingness to pay. Many ticket types, passes and add-ons at Disneyland are not increasing at all this time. But premium products are getting more expensive, like the highest-level, skip-the-line service at Walt Disney World, which could now run just shy of the US$500 mark during peak demand. It’s a reflection of the company’s strategy: Spread the price boosts across different audiences, while leaving bottom-tier prices - like the slowest season, one-day, one-park tickets - unchanged. Its theme parks strategy, Disney said, has evolved over time. Higher-priced premium products and add-ons, alongside targeted discounts and a refresh of older attractions, allowed the company this summer to generate the strongest parks and cruises revenue in two years. The company kept entry-level prices stable this year, when many consumers are reigning in discretionary spending. “Our goal is to put guests at the center of our decision making, and that starts by listening to them,” Thomas Mazloum, chairman of Disney Experiences, told CNN ahead of the price hikes. “That matters more now when families are watching every dollar, and we see it in the choices they make every day — in how they plan, in how far ahead.” Disneyland holds relatively steady Some prices at Disneyland are inching up, like adding the option to hop between two parks in the same day ($5 to $15 more), most middle-tier Disneyland tickets (about $5 or 3 per cent more), and its Lightning Lane Multi Pass skip-the-line service ($1 or 3 per cent more). However, a broad slate of products at Disneyland are not increasing in price: the cheapest tickets for the slowest days of the year, the peak tickets for the busiest days of the year, multi-day tickets, parking and annual passes. The base ticket price has held steady at $104 since 2019. But for the first time in a decade, the most expensive one-day, one-park ticket for Disneyland (usually during end-of-year holidays) is also not budging from its current $224. The fact that none of the annual passes are changing in price is also a first. The relative lack of price movement this year in Anaheim, California, speaks to the main clientele: locals. Disney told CNN that visitation to Disneyland tends to be more regional with shorter stays; Disney World guests typically plan further ahead, travel longer distances, and take longer vacations. Pnina Feldman, associate professor of technology and operations management at the University of Virginia, said Californians “are deciding how many times to visit this year.” “That decision is price sensitive,” she said. Different coasts, different needs The very same items at Disney World in Florida are seeing different price treatments. “We have all kinds of guests coming through our gates,” Disney’s Mazloum said, “and it’s exactly why we think about pricing market by market, rather than with one broad brush.” Current Disney World ticket prices have been set through October 2027. But for the remainder of 2027, the new price of the peak, one-day, one-park ticket will increase by $10 to $229 plus tax. The lowest-priced, one-day, one-park ticket will stay the same at $119 plus tax. Feldman said that at Disney World, more guests are from out of state. “For guests who flew in and booked a hotel, a few dollars on a ticket rarely changes the decision to go, so the increase in price won’t fundamentally decrease demand,” she said. Annual passes to Disney World are going up by $10 to $120, depending on the pass. Middle-tier Disney World tickets, multi-day tickets, and a skip-the-line service for individual premium rides, will also see a moderate increase. The high-end version of that service that allows guests into every available fast lane without reservations could go up $50 based on demand. The price of the cheaper skip-the-line option that requires reservations, as well as parking rates, will not change. Listening to feedback Gavin Doyle, founder of third-party Disney news site MickeyVisit.com, said his readers follow the company — and the annual price increases — closely. “I’m just seeing Disney start to really listen to fan feedback in a way that they haven’t in the past, always,” Doyle said. In post-pandemic years, he said some guests felt like the changes to policies and price increases made it more difficult to visit a place over which they feel so much ownership. In response, Disney rolled back some pandemic-era decisions, such as making Disney World hotel parking free again for guests. Beci Mahnken, CEO of MEI-Travel agency, said that even in financially uncertain times, her clients aren’t foregoing Disney trips altogether. However, “some clients are willing to adjust their dates, resort or length of stay when the right offer comes along because it can make a meaningful difference in the overall cost,” Mahnken said. That’s exactly what Disney is hoping for: to use pricing to spread crowds out more evenly throughout the year, hopefully providing a better experience for all visitors. “We’re so proud that guests keep choosing us, year after year. It tells us we’re getting that balance right,” Mazloum said.
