It's way too fucking expensive!!!!!!

Fears within Disney that theme parks have hit price limit, report says

By Katie Dowd

Disney fans aren’t the only ones fretting over the years of cost increases and expensive add-ons in the theme parks: According to a new Wall Street Journal report, even employees within the company are worried Disney “has become addicted to price hikes and has reached the limits of what middle-class Americans can afford.”

The article, headlined “Even Disney Is Worried About the High Cost of a Disney Vacation,” cites anonymous sources within Disney’s team that works with theme park pricing. “Internal discussions over whether Disney parks may be losing their grip on the hearts and wallets of families with young kids have become more frequent, some of those people said,” the Journal reported. Surveys conducted by Disney World and Disneyland reportedly showed guests who planned return trips went “sharply down” starting in late 2023.

Disney refuted the Journal’s reporting, citing high customer satisfaction.

A trip to the Disney parks has never been more expensive. The cheapest one-day, one-park ticket available in Disneyland is $104; that price can surge up to $206 on busier days. Prices have exploded far past the rate of inflation. In 2000, a ticket to Disneyland cost $41. That’s about $77 today, adjusted for inflation. 

On top of that, once-free perks have disappeared. Free fast passes have been replaced by Lightning Line Multi Pass, which costs another $32 per ticket, per day to skip certain ride lines. In Disney World, the complimentary Magical Express shuttle service from the airport was nixed in 2022. Last year, to the outrage of fans, Disney introduced a $400 per person, per day skip-the-line service. 

Using Disneyland’s site, we budgeted out a vacation from June 8-11 for a family of four with two children under the age of 10. To stay at Pixar Place, Disneyland’s cheapest hotel, it costs $531 per night. Add in four three-day, one park per day tickets, and the cost soars to $3,500 for the family — and that’s not including food or Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Adding in a park-hopper option costs an additional $360, and Lightning Lane adds $384 more to the vacation price.