There are plenty of reasons why Disneyland hiked ticket prices this week while Disney World held the line, but none of them are going to make visitors to the Happiest Place on Earth very happy.
Disneyland raised admission prices by as much as 25% on Wednesday, Oct. 11 with the most expensive one-day, one-park ticket now $194.
Walt Disney World did not hike daily ticket prices this week — but Disney’s four Florida parks did raise prices on annual passes and parking.
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Why didn’t Disney World raise ticket prices at the same time as Disneyland?
There are four key reasons.
1) Disney World raised ticket prices twice in 2022. The last time Disneyland raised ticket prices was in October 2022 — exactly a year ago.
2) Disney uses ticket pricing to manage demand — charging less on slow days and more on busy days in hopes of better balancing attendance.
3) Disney plans to double its investment in theme parks to $60 billion over the next decade — and those costs ultimately need to be passed along to visitors.
4) Florida is having a tougher tourism year than California, according to Theme Park Insider.
“In Florida, Disney is looking to boost its attendance numbers and drive more spending,” according to Theme Park Insider.
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Disneyland and Disney World have always operated independently despite their shared DNA.
“Disney’s choice to get aggressive on pricing in California while holding the line on prices (for the most part) and loosening restrictions in Florida suggests that Disney is seeing much stronger demand for its theme parks in California than in Florida at the moment,” according to Theme Park Insider.
In addition to Disneyland’s daily ticket price hike, multi-day tickets rose by as much as 15.7% and parkhopper passes climbed by as much as 25%….
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