It’s that time of year again for Disney theme park fans. Last week, the company announced that it is raising some prices at both Disney World Resort in Orlando and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.
Park-goers in California got hit harder. For both of its two theme parks, Disneyland’s tickets are on a tiered system. Single-day tickets are now costlier for all but Tier 0, the most off-peak, lowest-attendance days—think the dead of January or right after the start of the school year. During other times, one-day ticket prices are higher, from $119 a day in Tier 1 (up $5 from last year) to $194 a day in Tier 6 (a jump of $15).
Then there’s some expected incremental nickel-and-diming. It’ll cost $30 per person, per day ($5 more than before) to buy the Disney Genie+ line-skipping add-on, as long as you book it before you arrive. (Wait until you get there and the price can be higher, depending on wait times.) Parking will also cost $5 more—either $35 for standard parking or $55 for preferred parking.
The price hike comes on the heels of Disney’s announcement last month that it intends to invest $60 billion into its theme parks and cruise business over the next decade. The company said in a regulatory filing last week that this investment is nearly twice what it spent over the previous 10-year period.
This year’s third-quarter revenue for Disney’s parks, experiences and products division rose by nearly $1 billion to $8.3 billion compared to the same period in 2022. Notably, the 13% increase was driven primarily by its international parks, while income at Walt Disney World Resort dropped and Disneyland Resort was “up only modestly to the prior-year quarter,” according to financial reports.
One silver lining for Florida park-goers is that Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando—a much bigger resort than in Anaheim with four theme parks and two waterparks—is not raising prices on base tickets for ages 10 and up, which will start at $109 per person and max out at $189 for a one-park, one-day ticket. This price doesn’t include any add-on options like park hopper. Meanwhile, prices for annual passes at the Orlando resort rose, as did parking fees.
Keep in mind that last year, Disney World raised single-day ticket prices significantly and, for the first time, made them park-specific. That particular policy turned out to be so unpopular that Disney has decided to reverse it. Beginning on January 9, park-goers will no longer have to reserve a specific theme park when purchasing standard, date-based tickets.
And two other policies at Disney World are also being reversed. Since 2021, park hopper access—the ability to visit a second park in the same day—has only been available after 2 p.m. each day. Beginning January 9, 2024, Disney is scrubbing that time restriction, allowing ticket holders with park hopper benefits to once again visit another theme park at any time of day, subject to capacity limitations. Lastly, Disney dining plans will be available once again as part of a package for Disney Resort hotel guests.
If you’re planning a Disney theme park vacation in the next year, here are four ways to keep your costs down.
If you’re heading to Disneyland in the next 15 months, there’s a limited-time opportunity that can save a significant chunk of change, especially if you have no choice but to visit during peak times.
As Robert Niles, founder of Theme Park Insider, explains, there is a loophole in the most recent price bump: Authorized resellers can continue to sell tickets at the former discounted prices while supplies last. “Disneyland’s multi-day tickets expire 13 days their first use, but if you want to wait to start using these tickets, they remain valid until January 12, 2025,” Niles writes. In other words, a family that buys these tickets now can use them next summer or even during the 2024 holiday season—thus skirting the price hike.
“The reseller we have partnered with is offering savings starting at $32 off the new price of a two-day Disneyland Resort ticket on up to $139 off a five-day Park Hopper with Disney Genie+,” according to Niles.
Disney typically makes one or two price hikes a year, so buying tickets well in advance can very often save money. If you’re buying date-based tickets—because, for instance, you are bundling hotel reservations—you can purchase tickets all the way through December 31, 2024. That provides some price protection against future price hikes.
Disney has a method to its madness of which passes get a price hike. Since 2018, the company has employed dynamic pricing—charging more for tickets during high-volume days and less during low-volume days—in a long-term effort to even out crowds across days and seasons. In a nutshell, the company is incentivizing visitors to come during off-peak times.
Disney charges more on weekends, school breaks and holidays. To snag the least-expensive tickets, a family should visit on weekdays during the school year. Of course, not every family can or is willing to yank kids out of school for a Disney vacation, but those who do can wind up spending significantly less.
Note that at Disneyland in Anaheim, the latest round of hikes does not impact the $104 price for a single-day, one-park ticket on Tier 0 days—Disney’s designation for its lowest-attendance days. Visit during the Tier 0 dates in 2024 and you can essentially skirt the latest ticket price hike altogether.
Multi-day tickets to Disneyland Resort are not on the tier-system, so the price stays the same whether you visit during a peak holiday weekend or the dead of January. Purchasing a multi-day ticket brings down the per-day price—but only if you’re visiting during lowest-volume days.
For example, buying multiple single-day Tier 0 tickets ($104 apiece) is cheaper than purchasing a two-day ticket (now $310, or $155 per day); a three-day ticket (at $390, or $130 per day); or a four-day ticket ($445, or $111.25 per day).
But if you’re visiting during Tier 1-or-above dates, then you need to do the math. Buying multiple single-day Tier 1 tickets ($119) is still cheaper than two- and three-day tickets during that period, but it is cheaper to buy a four-day ticket than four single-day tickets.