Disney World Ticket Price Increase Coming Sunday

When does a Theme Park ticket become to expensive? With the increases are you still getting a good day out for your hard earned dollars? Or is it just a money making exercise on behalf of the Theme Park? If we were to fly across the pond to visit the likes of Disney / Universal Parks, and with a price increase in Park entry puts strain on a already tight budget to come across and play tourist from Australia, especially if the exchange rate drops and not close to being on par. Might have to consider other options.

I guess it all depends on how much you love to visit theme parks. While I do not like an increase in the price of the ticket, it certainly wouldn't stop me.

It is certain that price increases occur in line with death and taxes.

Who buys a one day ticket? A five day single park ticket is about $60 a day. Still seems reasonable enough to me.

The multi day ticket still had a higher minimum well above $100. That's what hurts.

What?!? They did not raise the cost of a 5 day ticket to above $100/day. No way. I am misunderstanding you, I think, Anon. Do you mean multi park or park hopper tickets? If so, who buys park hopper tickets? When will people learn there's enough to do at one park to occupy a full day? And even if you do run out of things to do, there's always the resort pool. Most families would rather take some time out to relax and swim than go to theme parks for 16 out of 24 hours anyway.

"If so, who buys park hopper tickets?"

We buy park hoppers. We've been to WDW many many times, and it's very nice to be able to adjust our plans on the fly based on crowd levels and to maximize visits. We usually go in October, which means MK hours are already limited on some nights due to MNSSHP, and nighttime shows/parades do not occur every day. So in order to make sure we see everything we want in a 4-5 day stay, park hoppers are practically a necessity. Also, it allows you to be flexible if you want to make lunch reservations in one park while having dinner reservations at another.

For those that don't go very often, or have not been to WDW more than a handful of times, park hoppers are probably not a good idea. However, for those of us that have been to WDW many many times and know how best to get around and want to maximize a shorter stay at the resort, the hopping option can be really helpful. Park hopping is also a valuable tool for on-site guests taking advantage of Magic Hours since virtually all on-site guests that don't have park hoppers are going to spend the day in the Magic Hour park, so the hopper option allows you to take advantage of the Magic Hour and then hop to a less crowded park.

I would hate the idea of walking into a WDW park knowing that regardless of how the day was going or how packed the park was to be stuck there for the entire day. It's magnified with the MyMagic+ app that allows you to see wait times for all attractions in other parks, so you can change your plans on the fly based on current lines. Seeing how crowd levels have changed over the years even during off-peak seasons, having park hoppers to me can be a very valuable tool for those that have "been there done that", and simply want to cherry pick the best/newest attractions and/or see things they haven't seen in a while.

James: Read what I wrote.

"They did not raise the cost of a 5 day ticket to above $100/day."

That's what you wrote.

Paying $100 is still the minimum entry price regardless of number of days.

"Paying $100 is still the minimum entry price regardless of number of days."

What does that even mean? James piqued my curiosity with his comment, and now your retort makes absolutely no sense. Is that a personal opinion, or are you trying to state some type of fact, because factually $100 - really $99 (or $105 later this weekend) would be considered a "maximum entry price" with the cost decreasing as guests add days to their passes (unless you're considering hopping and plus options).

Yeesh, had to call out the park hoppers.

Park hopper here (raising hand). Why would you want to park hop? Three words: Disney Hollywood Studios. There is no way I could find enough to do there for a full day. On top of that are the ridiculous wait times for Toy Story Mania, Hannah Montana Rock n' Roller Coaster, and sometimes Tower of Terror. True, you probably could spend all day standing in line just to ride those rides if you planned it wrong. I would rather have the option to leave the barren park and go over to Epcot or Magic Kingdom (depending on the wait times). The only time I find myself not park hopping is if I had one two many of the delicious Grey Goose orange slushes in Paris at Epcot.

All kidding aside, like it was more eloquently stated above by Russell- park hoppers give you freedom. Why force yourself to be stuck in an overcrowded, long wait time park for an entire day when you can easily jaunt over to another park where it is less crowded?

"What does that even mean?"

It means paying $100 or $250.

For a family of 4, paying $400 or $1000.

Minimum entry price. I know thinking is hard. That's why some just pay the one day price.

""maximum entry price" with the cost decreasing as guests add days."

Hmm. The cash register is ringing higher each day you added.

Russell: I don't think you read anything I wrote.

I've said it before but to me park hopper tickets make sense in DLR but not at WDW. Traveling between parks is a waste of time at WDW. If Hollywood Studios doesn't take all day then go there for half a day then go to Disney Springs for the day or hit a waterpark on that same day. Btw this argument is hilarious.

I have to agree Anon, what you say makes no sense, you do know that if you buy tickets for 5 days that the price per day goes down to about 60 bucks a day right? Yes your total is just over 300 bucks per person but per day is less. Just buying one day costs 100 bucks.

We park hop at WDW, but primarily because the afternoon heat & humidity in Orlando is brutal, even in the spring & fall. So we'll go to one of the parks in the morning, drive back to the on site resort and spend time at the pool, and go to a different resort in the evening once things cool down. There is so much to do at all of the resorts, attractions and shows, that we don't really consider any of the resorts half day parks. Now, if all you do is major rides and skip most of the shows and atmosphere nuances, any park can be done in a half day. But then you're missing so much that makes the theme park experience enjoyable. When on vacation we take our time and explore the parks in a leisurely enjoyable manner. If I wanted to run around and do a ton of coasters and cheezy flat rides all day I'd be better off at a regional amusement park. But they are not my preference for a vacation.

I'm just saying it's still hurts to pay. Facepalm.

"Yes your total is just over 300 bucks per person but per day is less. Just buying one day costs 100 bucks."

No disagreement there. That was what I said. Did I say that? It hurts to pay that.

"The multi day ticket still had a higher minimum well above $100. That's what hurts."
That's what I've said.

Alright I get you now that I think about it. Just the way you said it I suppose? Or my reading skills?

You should have said, "Still, no matter what your options 100 bucks per person per trip. Still hurts the wallet."

"Russell: I don't think you read anything I wrote."

OK, I get you now. However, your initial statement is ambiguous, and your circular statements don't make it any clearer.

I'm in total agreement that any trip to WDW is going to cost someone a minimum of $100 for admission, but the thread was discussing the per day price, and your statement, "Paying $100 is still the minimum entry price regardless of number of days." is ambiguous in the context of the thread (you have a tendency to derail threads with out of context statements). A person reading the original story and the subsequent comments would then interpret your statement as saying "it's going to cost someone at least $100 to get into WDW for a day".

The construction of your sentence by stating "entry price" suggests a per day price in the context of the discussion following James' statement " A five day single park ticket is about $60 a day. Still seems reasonable enough to me." The term "entry price" which both myself, James, and David seem to equate to "per day price" was ambiguous and misleading. If you buy a 10-day pass, the "entry price" is not $100, it's whatever the per-day rate that you spent on that 10-day pass. You would have been better served by saying "minimum pass cost" or "minimum outlay to purchase ticket media".

Nonetheless, I get what you're saying now, and definitely agree that no matter how long you're going to spend in WDW, you're going pay at least $100 to purchase some form of admission. However, it doesn't hurt so bad if you aggregate that cost over either a longer visit or multiple visits through purchasing the non-expiring option. In the end, Disney is going to continue to raise prices until they see data that suggest it's affecting their attendance or other revenue measurables (per guest cap, trip duration, hotel occupancy, etc...), and now that the $100 "glass ceiling" is soon to be officially broken, there's really nothing stopping them from continuing the onslaught of price increases (like the 2 per year that were happening in the 2000's).

If Russ and Anon can get on the same page, maybe world peace really does have a chance...
The whole scheme is just another mechanic in a well oiled machine designed to keep you on the resort as many days as possible. Sticker shock on the hundo single day gate price makes us seek out better prices per day on a multi-day, but ultimately gives Disney access to more of our vacation budget. Whatev. As long as Space Mountain exists it's not like I can resist.

Anon, perhaps you should work on your communication skills. I understand what you're saying, but most of your posts were a little confusing. Anyway...

Having never been to Walt Disney World, I'm not going to be less likely to visit due to the price increases. What they will do, however, is make me less likely to revisit unless the resort can justify the increase. If the price goes up significantly, the resort needs to show that they have more to offer than they did at the lower price. Given what's been done in recent years, I have to wonder how high the price can go before people stop visiting. WDW may be a little different, but I'm guessing the prices at the Disneyland Resort have to be getting pretty close to that point, especially with the resort finally having some serious competition when USH opens their Harry Potter land next year.

In regards to the park hopping debate, there are situations where it is not a good idea and there are situations where it is. If you're visiting for the first time, visiting during a peak crowd period, like to do everything in a park, or like to take it slow, it doesn't make sense to park hop. If you've been before and don't care about seeing everything again, don't have enough time to give each park a full day, or are visiting during the least crowded parts of the year, park hopping is a no brainer. For me, as long as I've got a sufficient number of days I would probably not buy the park hopping option for WDW, but on future visits I probably would as some of the parks (especially Animal Kingdom and to a degree Hollywood Studios) don't look like they'd have enough to justify a full day once you've visited. Again, using the Disneyland Resort as an example, Disneyland has plenty to fill a full day (and part of a second) even when you've visited multiple times before, but once you've visited it DCA is more of a half-day park. Unless you're going to ride all of the spinners or see every show (things a lot of people will probably only do once), there's really only six attractions worth doing in the park (and three or four maybe attractions). That's not enough for a full day, and other than Magic Kingdom (and perhaps Epcot) I could definitely see a lack of worthwhile attractions at the WDW parks for repeat visitors.

"the thread was discussing the per day price"

No it wasn't. That was James in a mere one post before I interjected that the minimum cost was still $100. The opening post by Robert Niles said tickets across the board is going up up up.

If my one mere sentence was that confusing, then WOW!

Wow, this thread really blew up! Good job, gang!

Sounds like we all view the parks a bit differently, and tour a bit differently. I should have simply written that "I do not feel a need to park hop when I visit a Disney park" rather than apply my opinion to everyone else. Apologies. Each to his or her own, for sure.

As for the $100 minimum...as others have said, it becomes a much more palatable fee the longer you stay. Regardless, going to any of the Orlando parks is expensive. I figure that if I want to visit a quality park, I am going to have to pay for it. If my desire was to save money I would skip Orlando altogether and get a season pass to Worlds of Fun (a Cedar Fair park 20 minutes from my house). But, for me and mine a week at WDW is far more valuable than a summer of visits to Worlds of Fun.